Veni Vidi Vici
by saber007
Summary: Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt. Destiny did not have a plan for her, but the people of Eos would remember the empress that led them through the darkness. (Written before the DLC releases and therefore Semi-AU)
1. Chapter 1

"Ah, Princess Imperatrix…you're looking rather irate. Care to unveil your burdens?" The chancellor drawled, leaning over her shoulder to peer out the window of the dreadnaught.

Imperatrix tilted her head, mildly frowning at Ardyn's proximity.

For the life of her, she couldn't fathom why the chancellor enjoyed invading her personal space and constantly bothering her with inane issues. Were he anyone else and not held in high regard by her father, the princess would put a stop to his antics.

"How should I feel when we are venturing into enemy territory?" Imperatrix crossed her arms and put some distance between them.

"You should feel triumphant. The emperor has finally brought the Lucians to their knees." Ardyn's smile was acidic.

"Hail to his glory." She dutifully echoed.

Their victory was a farce in her opinion.

All their fighting, all their struggles reduced to an anticlimactic peace treaty that made no tactical sense.

Why did her father suddenly sue for peace when the Lucians were backed into a corner?

He'd even went so far as to involve daemons on the battlefront. The Lucians stood no chance against the combined forces of magitek soldiers, daemons, and an aerial fleet.

The only thing that remained as an obstacle to victory was the wall powered by King Regis of Insomnia, but the king was getting older and weaker by the day. One final, overwhelming, attack on the wall would bring it down.

Yet, this was not the course they were taking.

Emperor Iedolas had ulterior motives, motives that his daughter was not privy to.

"This will be your first time in Insomnia, will it not?" Ardyn whirled in front of Imperatrix, lips widening into a wicked grin. She nodded wearily. "Then you must allow me to be your escort. I'll carve the city into your memories."

"As flattered as I am, I will have to decline. My father deserves your utmost focus during this excursion."

"Oh, he can spare me for an hour or two."

Her veneer of polite civility melted. "My answer remains unchanged, Chancellor Izunia."

Ardyn covered his chest, feigning injury. "Why so cold, my dear? You needn't be ashamed to indulge in frivolity once or twice."

"We are not at peace, frivolity has no place here." Imperatrix removed herself from the conversation.

The vast command center felt small with so many politicians crowding near her father. Escaping Ardyn would only be a temporary reprieve.

Most the advisors were busy discussing the arrangements for their arrival in Insomnia. Usually, such matters wouldn't interest the princess, but she would prefer to discuss what path they would take upon arrival than play word games with the chancellor. Most, if not all his words always seemed to carry double meanings that she wouldn't understand until later when trouble hit.

Ardyn liked playing imp far too much for her taste.

Verstael Besithia, the chief of research was another that Imperatrix didn't feel inclined to speak with. He'd been hounding her about replacing her retainers with magitek soldiers as her father had done.

The princess staunchly refused to permit a replacement. She'd already been gifted with two irreplaceable attendants by the mad genius, attendants that were human and the most loyal companions she could ask for.

Imperatrix halted her appraisal of the soldiers on deck to answer the beckoning of the emperor. She lowered herself to the ground in a formal kneel, awaiting her father to bid her stand.

Emperor Iedolas dragged his eyes from the horizon to his heir.

As of late he felt a flare of intense vexation when looking upon his daughter. A son would have been a triumph and quieted the hushed jeers of the courtiers.

While possessing feminine beauty, under the emperor's orders, the princess kept her snow-white hair short, just shy of her shoulders, and adhered to a more masculine military uniform. Apart from sapphire-blue eyes and tawny-brown skin inherited from her mother, his daughter was his image reflected.

None could dismiss their likeness.

"Rise, Imperatrix."

She stood at the command and boldly met his gaze. His lips tugged upward.

Despite her gender, his daughter stood taller and prouder than any other subject of his. In twenty-eight years she'd distinguished herself as a formidable warrior on the battlefield and astute in the council room.

Iedolas could almost forget his heir was a woman in the wake of her triumphs.

"Do you remember the mission I gave you?"

"Yes, Your Radiance. I am to stay with Lady Lunafreya, ensuring no harm comes to her." Imperatrix felt it was unnecessary for her to play bodyguard to a de-throned princess when any of their soldiers or even the girl's brother could protect the oracle.

Her place was at the emperor's side as the right-hand, but she wouldn't disobey her sovereign.

"We do not want anything happening to our _olive branch_. Regis and his runt would never forgive us." Something in her father's tone of voice alerted Imperatrix to danger. Was he anticipating an attack on the girl? "I am trusting you with a most important mission. _Do not_ disappoint me, child."

" _On my honor_ , I will not fail, Father."

Iedolas nodded, reclining in his throne and gazing back at the horizon.

Imperatrix claimed the seat next to her father's and checked the console in front of them. Insomnia was hours away, a distraction was necessary to pass the time. She withdrew her phone.

The princess took a deep breath, turning around and chucking her phone at the chancellor would be the height of childishness and her father would scold her for it.

The damned man had sent multiple texts with dozens of emojis. Ardyn winked as he caught her chilly glare.

Would his games ever end?

She ignored the foolish messages and scrolled through the other missives from the council. All was well in the homeland. Even her sisters had texted her. They sent varying messages, somehow all sharing the singular request for souvenirs.

"What are you smiling about?"

Imperatrix wiped the ridiculous grin off her face before responding to the emperor. "My sisters show their age in their messages."

"What do those silly girls want?" An unconcealed amount of tenderness colored his tone.

"Gifts from Insomnia."

"How spoiled they have become. They ask for gifts every time we set out." Iedolas chuckled. "Not to worry, we will bring them the greatest gift of all."

"I believe they would prefer something material." Imperatrix jested, allowing formality to slip in light of her father's good mood. "Peace is an acceptable gift for adults, less so for children."

"Children? You speak as if you are old."

"I am an adult, of twenty-eight seasons."

"You are green, girl!" Iedolas snorted, smiling as if she'd said something idiotic. "You are still the girl drowning in robes she had stolen from her father's closet, tripping over the hem while pretending to be emperor. Or the girl unable to tie her shoes without assistance. Or the girl afraid of arachnids. Or-"

"I understand the metaphor, Father!" Imperatrix interrupted.

As touched as she was that he remembered all those things, she did not appreciate the other occupants eagerly listening to mortifying tales of her childhood.

"Good." Iedolas disregarded how his daughter cut him off.

Her reddened cheeks was punishment enough.

Another message popped on Imperatrix's phone. Again, the princess resisted the urge to chuck the phone at Ardyn's face for offering to take her shopping for the other princesses. The message was punctuated with winks, smiley-faces, rainbows, and hearts.

Eavesdropping scum!

"Stop grinding your teeth, it is unbecoming of a princess!" Her father reprimanded with an exasperated sneer.

Imperatrix straightened in her seat, a hasty apology given for her horrible habbit.

The soldiers looked up from their controls to mutter about the opulent display of magic originating from The Wall of Insomnia.

The emperor's sneer merged into an sly grin, excitement bubbling under his skin. Breathless was the princess at the shimmering barrier; she'd only heard stories of its grandeur. The chancellor was the only one among the ship not impressed with the view, disdainful and bored with the destination.

The Niflheim delegation had arrived at the heart of Lucis.

The wheels of destiny would now turn and their country would be on top of the wheel.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What a wonderful welcoming!" Iedolas leisurely led Imperatrix forward into the madness of the city.

News reporters yelled question after question and cameras flashed instantaneously as the royal family and their subjects entered Insomnia. The emperor stood taller under all the attention, jovially waving at onlookers. The princess was more subdued in her waving and smiling.

Not all the citizens were receptive to their arrival, blankly observing them like strange creatures.

Cars were waiting for them at the end of the street.

The emperor and the chancellor took the first car, leaving Imperatrix to take the next with the Fleuret siblings.

Lunafreya and Ravus sat on opposite sides of the limo, tension thick between them.

The princess wasn't keen on shadowing the younger sibling, not when the girl persisted in being aloof.

Lunafreya could never be described as cruel, but that didn't stop her from expressing disdain for anyone hailing from the empire. Interactions with her typically were short and curt, and that was if one wasn't exposed to her cutting comments.

Originally, both Fleuret siblings had been welcomed at court, but while Ravus chose to follow, Lunafreya chose to rebel. Her insolence eventually struck a nerve with the emperor and the oracle was all but banished to Tenebrae, with no likelihood of ever stepping foot out of the country.

Even the great oracle wasn't above ugly tendencies. She could despise and hate like any other mortal.

"Has Furia exasperated you with talk of souvenirs? I swear, women and their trifles!" Ravus broke the tension with a snip at Imperatrix's sister, scowling at the window in place of his sister.

The elder did not detest her as the sister did, in fact, Imperatrix considered herself a friend of the man.

"It is all she and the others can talk about in their messages." The princess huffed as she realized Furia's ploy. "That greedy, little trickster!"

The girl tried to obtain twice the gifts by asking both sister and husband.

"It's baffling where it comes from." Ravus remarked dryly.

She didn't miss the unsubtle dig, mock outrage slipped into her voice. "Are you insinuating that I corrupted her?!"

"Not insinuating, flat-out accusing. It is the elder sibling's responsibility to root out childish behavior of the younger ones." He eyed her with condescension.

"To think, I was almost married to you. I pity my dear sister."

"That pity is uncalled for. Any man married to you will be no more than a glorified trophy, and eventually, a dim one from your shadow."

Imperatrix chuckled lightly at their bantering. So few people were willing to throw barbs at the imperial princess. "Do you not mean 'men'? It is likely that as empress I will be required to take multiple spouses."

The subject of polygamy drew Lunafreya out of her self-imposed silence and she at last spoke.

"You would follow in your father's footsteps, practicing bigamy, instead of monogamy, as the rest of the land does?"

"It is a sign of power to have multiple spouses and it provides the empire with bountiful alliances. It has been a tradition in the Aldercapt family for centuries." Imperatrix recited patiently, used to the culture shock of others. "I will be no different from my predecessors."

The oracle wasn't quite sure how to feel about the future empress.

Imperatrix was not heartless or arrogant like most nobles from Niflheim were, but she shared their abundant patriotism, wholly believing in her country and father. Such loyalty and love would deserve the highest praise, had the empire not gone astray from the virtue of light.

Imperials were lost in the darkness of human fallacy.

"Marriage to one man you love does not interest you?" Lunafreya posed.

Her impending marriage was political, but it had been selected due to an already present friendship. Noctis held a special place in her heart. She could not imagine having to split that place for another.

A tinge of pity crossed the oracle's face. "Instead, you allow yourself to be sold to the highest bidders..."

Did Imperatrix even consider love to be a priority for marriage? Her explanation was so cold and logical.

Even her grim-faced brother had found a form of happiness in his marriage. Furia and Ravus argued constantly, but love was present in their fleeting glances and occasionally affectionate actions.

"Not all of us can be so fortunate. Choice is a privilege rarely afforded to royalty." The insult uselessly battered at Imperatrix's shell.

The princess had long ago given up on the fantasy between lovers in a marriage.

So much time spent on battlefields and in council rooms had jaded her. Love for one's country and people appeared to be the only path open to the princess.

If her marriage could benefit Niflheim then she would walk down the aisle with her head held high, minimal expectations for her future husband to love a woman such as her.

Too rough and bloody were her hands, she could not provide the gentility of a quintessential princess.

"May your marriage to Prince Noctis be a happy and fruitful one, Lady Lunafreya." Imperatrix imparted with sincerity for the girl given the rare gift of a good match in marriage.

The oracle blinked, taken back by the lack of retaliation.

Most likely, she had wanted a verbal spat. The princess was not Ravus, she would not rise to the girl's taunts.

The elder Fleuret scoffed venomously. "My sister deserves far better than that treacherous boy."

"Do not speak of Noctis so poorly, Brother." Lunafreya hadn't raised her voice, but she might as well with how chilly her demeanor became.

"I will speak of him however I please!" He roared. "Your continued affection for him disgusts me. Given the chance, I would cut him and his father down for the destruction they wrought on our home!"

"We have had this argument far too many times, and yet, you refuse to see the truth. You are drowning in misplaced hate!"

Ravus looked close to reaching over and striking his sister. Thankfully, the driver announced that they'd arrived at the hotel, preventing that actuality. He stormed out the vehicle, nearly knocking over the valet in his rush. Lunafreya's exit was more composed and she thanked the scared man for his assistance.

Once inside, the girls were given room keys by an imperial advisor. All visiting Nephilim were to be housed on the upper floors, with the imperial family on the penthouse floor.

As Lunafreya began to leave, Imperatrix called out for her.

"You have the rest of the day to yourself. The peace treaty celebration is not until tomorrow night." She started, debating whether or not to continue.

"I am aware of this gift of leisure, but I am not permitted to leave the hotel. Is there a reason to remind me of this?" The oracle spoke with an air of scorn for the restrictions placed on her.

"You are permitted to leave with a guard accompanying you." Imperatrix corrected and then added hesitantly. "I am willing to escort you around the city."

A look of hopeful surprise lit Lunafreya's face. "Why?"

"The citizens will be less tense around me if you are present."

She studied the imperial princess for a few moments until a small smile shined through. "That is a very roundabout way of asking for friendly accompaniment."

Imperatrix would persist being a puzzle to her.

The princess was not Emperor Iedolas Tellus Aldercapt. The oracle could not continue to let the shadow of his faults bias her opinion of the imperial princess.

If the woman wished to show Lunafreya kindness, then it couldn't be returned with contempt.

They couldn't stay stuck in this gray area.

"Friendly accompaniment?" Imperatrix chortled lowly, smiling indulgently as she did when one of her sisters pretended to be nicer to get something they wanted. "I shall cherish this short reprieve of friendship then."

"Give me a few minutes to freshen up." Lunafreya's spirits were too high to be vexed at being treated like a child.

She floated onto the elevator.

Imperatrix sat in the lounge, picking up a magazine and searching for an interesting store to purchase mementos of the trip.

Despite other's views on the matter, she would spoil her sisters. Presents were a way for the princess to communicate affection for the girls when duty kept her away so often.

She hadn't seen Furia since her wedding and departure to Tenebrae. With the second princess living in another country and Imperatrix's busy schedule, their relationship had fizzled to a degree.

How many phone calls had the princess missed because she'd been tied up in meetings or on a mission? Too many according to the family spitfire.

Euphemia and Venus saw more of Imperatrix than anyone else and even then their time together was often cut short. The alternative was to indulge them at night, with the consequence of her being tired the next day, but contented from their sweet smiles.

Ravus was wrong.

She wasn't feeding their vanity with the material gifts, the princess was salvaging what space was left in their hearts for her.

"Why are you sitting all by your lonesome, my dear?" Ardyn sauntered over, swiping the magazine out of Imperatrix's hand. "And reading these boring tourist pamphlet! Were you re-considering my offer?"

A sly smirk was revealed as Ardyn lowered the book from the front of his face.

"Chancellor Izu-"

"Please call me Ardyn. We aren't putting on a show for anyone, are we, Impera?"

The princess stood to her full height, chin angling upward to make up for the distance of her head only reaching his chest. "Do not address me so intimately, I am the crown princess! I am not 'Impera' to you!"

Imperatrix was so much fun to tease.

She'd been an absolute delight when first introduced to him. He'd been a curiosity to her then and was afforded all the endearments of a young, captivated girl.

Too bad her attitude towards him had frequently soured over the years. He so missed those flushed smiles and the attention.

"My gravest apologies, _Princess Imperatrix_. Nostalgia for the old days overwhelmed my sense of reasoning." He stooped into a mocking bow, removing his hat in deference.

"Did you have a reason for seeking me out?" The princess reigned in her temper, knowing the chancellor thrived on excitable conduct.

"Other than doing my gentlemanly duty by checking on you, no, I'm afraid not."

"I thank you for the concern, but it is unnecessary."

The emergence of Lunafreya caught the red-head's attention.

"Chancellor Izunia." The oracle greeted civilly.

"Why are women so formal with me?" He tutted and when neither female responded, Ardyn returned his hat to its original place and changed topics. "Are you two going somewhere?"

"We are. Is that an issue?" Imperatrix crossed her arms, daring the chancellor to challenge her authority.

"Do be careful, lovely ladies such as yourselves are magnets for trouble." Ardyn chuckled conspiratorially as he waltzed off.

The princess felt she was missing something. Unfortunately, an answer wouldn't come until later when the trickster decided to elaborate at the most inopportune time.

Somehow the chancellor always got the last laugh.

"Did you have someplace in mind, Imperatrix?"

She pushed thoughts of Ardyn Izunia to the back of her head. "If you do not mind walking, there is an outdoor mall nearby."

Lunafreya beamed. "I have never been to a mall. We only have small markets in Tenebrae."

"Modern things like malls lose their grandeur after a few times." The princess cracked a grin, recalling exhausting shopping trips with the female family members.

She much preferred markets, the products found there were often homemade and unique. Malls offered more generic selections.

"What made you go to one? Royals have tailors." Lunafreya imagined someone as militaristic as Imperatrix shopping and found it an amusing notion.

Furia, she could see doing something so mundane, since the oracle and her sister-in-law shopped together on occasion.

The larger-than-life crown princess didn't fit in a normal setting in her mind.

"My sisters like shopping for themselves. And clothes are not the only things you will find in a mall."

"What else is there?"

"Food, toys, equipment, and all manners of technology, each mall is different. They tend to not have the same stores unless they are large franchises."

Lunafreya was mystified by Imperatrix's explanation of things she'd found or bought at different malls.

The girl loosened up the further they got from the hotel, avidly taking in the sights of the city and listening to the tales of the princess.

Citizens stopped to gawk at the pair. None approached in light of the Nephilim, namely Imperatrix. The contingent of guards discreetly following them also dissuaded any bystanders from getting too curious.

What a sight they made.

The oracle had changed into a casual dress and could pass as a regular upper-class citizen. The princess had only bothered to remove the cloak of her uniform before leaving. Her distinctive hair and skin would've rendered a disguise useless.

Besides, Imperatrix was too known, anonymity in a technological city such as Insomnia was impossible.

They probably had news feeeds of her and her father on one of the millions of televisions throughout the city.

"There it is!" Lunafreya smiled.

The outdoor mall bustled with activity.

The oracle was instantly fascinated with all the displays and couldn't decide where to look. Imperatrix watched the girl's head whip to and fro with mirth. The princess allowed the girl to take the lead. After some time exploring, she paused in front of a dog store, cooing at the puppies on display.

"If I am not mistaken, you have a set of dogs." Imperatrix mussed.

Furia had sent her a photo of two canines with opposing coloring, black and white dogs.

"Umbra and Pryna, they are my dearest companions." Lunafreya giggled after a puppy licked the glass where her hand rested.

Imperatrix softened. The innocence of youth was a wonder in itself. "Does my sister play with them?"

A dog wasn't what she had mind as a gift, and her father was sure to protest a mutt being brought aboard a warship, yet, a dog would be a good companion for the second princess when her husband or family weren't available for company.

Too often was she left with Lunafreya and servants for amity, a group that probably weren't as amiable as Furia was used to.

"Yes, when we have tea in the afternoons." The oracle replied, hand dropping back to her side. "She is very lively...her name is proper."

"What havoc has she caused?" Imperatrix sighed, assuming the girl was making a complaint that she would have to take up with her sister.

Ravus did it often enough.

"Oh, I didn't mean that negatively. Umbra and Pryna have such fun chasing her around the garden." Lunafreya tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Though, she and Ravus do have clamorous arguments that leave our furniture in pieces. The servants have created their own code when referring to her. When Furia is in a mood they say 'avoid the fury', when she is placid they say 'don't poke the fury'."

The princess grimaced. "How does your manor still stand with two volatile occupants?"

Ravus and Furia liked going for their weapons the minute someone irked them. Between a sword and a whip, things were sure to turn up damaged on a regular basis.

"He likes riling his wife up honestly."

"How do you know this?"

"I asked him, he finds Furia's outburst entertaining because she is so short for twenty-years-old."

Imperatrix couldn't prevent her laughter.

The princess had something indecent in mind, like Ravus savored being whipped, but of course he wouldn't share something so sordid with his little sister. She wouldn't put such proclivities past her sister, the girl was a sadistic deviant.

Lunafreya's laughter joined the other female's, but her laughter was from the image of her giant brother screeching at an equally belligerent Furia, not their bedroom activities.

"Would you like to go inside?" Imperatrix offered after calming down, to which Lunafreya nodded eagerly.

The girls browsed the dogs on sale.

The oracle became too preoccupied with petting every creature that ran to the front of their cage to provide the princess insight on which one to purchase for Furia. The salesclerk was no help either, too dumbfounded by the presence of two princesses in her hole-in-the-wall store to articulate herself.

A white laika with an obnoxious bark called to Imperatrix. The dog very much personified Furia, all bark and no bite.

The small thing yipped at her after taking it out of the cage, but it didn't bite the princess.

The pup and all its necessities were purchased with the money she'd exchanged upon arrival. It was jarring to use bills to pay instead of gil, but Imperatrix managed with minimal embarrassment. The sale was concluded with instructions for the items to be delivered to the hotel and the princess paid extra for the service.

"Where to next, Lunafreya?"

"You are letting me decide? I thought you were shopping for your sisters?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"You are more likely to find an interesting store than I am. Luck is on your side." The princess wouldn't have noticed the dog store, it had no presence and was in the corner where no one would look. "You are free to buy something as well. I wo not tell anyone."

The oracle blushed. "I did not think I would have an opportunity like this and did not complete an exchange."

Imperatrix blankly stared at her. "You could have asked Ravus for money."

Her sisters begged her for money all the time.

Lunafreya could have asked when she went upstairs, in fact, that was what the princess assumed the girl went to do besides changing her clothes.

"I did not want to bother him."

She doubted that, but didn't contend the claim. "If you see something you like, I will buy it."

Hopefully, the oracle didn't pick anything too expensive. She'd never been shopping with Lunafreya before so Imperatrix didn't have a reference to go by.

"I could not ask that of you." Lunafreya politely declined.

"I insist, you must have something to commemorate your first mall visit." The princess pointed to a jewelry store. "A bracelet or a necklace perhaps?"

Imperatrix walked to the store and entered with purpose, she'd spotted a golden necklace that would suit the oracle. She guided Lunafreya to the crescent moon on display.

"What do you think? A lunar moon for your namesake?"

The piece was simple and good quality. A bit pricy, but within budget.

"It is pretty." Lunafreya agreed wistfully, already won over. "But I cannot…"

This time the employee running the store didn't have a problem approaching Imperatrix and conversing about the product. The princess ended up buying the piece after persuading Lunafreya to accept the gift. The oracle immediately put the necklace on and gently traced the circular item.

"Thank you for this, Imperatrix."

"You are welcome." Thinking that was the end of it, she proceeded towards another store.

"Not just this, but thank you for this experience." Lunafreya dipped her head gratefully, smiling radiantly.

Imperatrix was so caught off guard she missed the girl walking past her to tour the rest of the mall. The oracle calling for her drew the princess back to the present.

Shopping with Lunafreya was turning out to be more pleasant than she expected.


	2. Chapter 2

"What is going on?" Imperatrix looked past Lunafreya and at their escort speaking with the Lucia guard. "Why have they stopped us?"

"I don't know, Princess." The driver answered, anxiously monitoring the guards blocking their path.

She huffed and prepared to step out the car.

"Wait, Imperatrix." Lunafreya said, gesturing to the arrival of two men dressed in different military uniforms.

One of the uniforms the princess recognized as the apparel of the Kingsglaive and judging how the glaive deferred to the other male, the auburn-haired man must have been the superior.

The glaive approached the driver's side and asked their driver to leave, taking the newly opened seat.

"Your highness." Greeted their new driver to Lunafreya.

He recoiled in surprise after catching Imperatrix's reflection in the mirror.

"What do you think you are doing, s _ir_?" She questioned with the intensity of a coeurl.

This had to be why the emperor insisted on her shadowing the oracle.

The man struggled to form a sentence in the wake of the imperial princess outside of battle gear.

State affairs were the few occasions where Imperatrix was allowed to dress as a woman.

The princess dressed beautifully in a lilac shear gown encrusted with rubies cascading from the neck to the flared-out hem. Detached sleeves in the same style covered her calloused hands and faded scars. Imperatrix's hair wasn't long enough for anything more intricate than a bun with a silver headpiece imitating a diadem resting on her head.

The car sped off as the man turned around without answering Imperatrix. The princess clicked the button for her seatbelt. Lunafreya's hand stopped her from attacking the intruder.

"Would you mind telling us where we are going?" The patience in which Lunafreya spoke was either a testament to her sense of tranquility, or she hoped for something like this to occur.

Could that angelic face actually hide a cunning mind?

"The king has requested an audience, Your Highness." The man replied.

"King Regis could not make this request through the proper channels?" Imperatrix mentioned suspiciously.

"His Majesty was concerned the request would be denied."

"So he resorts to kidnapping?"

The man bristled, whipping around in his seat to glare heatedly at her.

"Kidnapping implies that you're being held against your will. You're free to jump out, _Princess Imperatrix_." He hissed out her title, none of the respect given to Lunafreya was provided for her.

"I was ordered to stay with _Lady Lunafreya_. I will not disobey my sovereign, nor will I give you the satisfaction of seeing me jump out of a car." She ground her teeth.

Constantly being disrespected on foreign ground due to her lineage was increasingly onerous. Everyday she had to fight against damned prejudice!

People hated the empire for invading their homeland. People hated the empire for restructuring their economy. People hated the empire for providing military support. People hated the princess on principle.

Yes, the empire's expansion caused harm, but in the long run it helped every country in its territory reach an acceptable level of educational and commercial value. Unlike the kingdom of Lucis, Niflheim's territories did not stagnate while the capital thrived.

Nearly all the territories of the empire were modernized and flourishing.

"Glad we've established I'm not kidnapping you." The man rolled his eyes.

Lunafreya diffused the tension with a simple question. "May we know your name?"

"Nyx Ulric."

The name rung a bell for the princess.

He was the glaive heralded as a "hero" by the Lucians and his name came up multiple times in battle reports.

She couldn't take him on without her magitek weaponry. Her bare hands wouldn't work against the king's magic. Her outfit would also impede movement.

Nyx stopped the car and helped Lunafreya out. Imperatrix didn't wait to see if she'd be afforded the same courtesy.

"Follow me, ladies." He aimed the next part specifically at the imperial princess. "Don't try anything, there are guards posted everywhere."

"I am well versed on how to behave among royalty." She lifted her dress and ascended the stairs of the palace.

All the way to the throne room snarls and muttered insults greeted Imperatrix, but she took it all in stride, never returning the antagonism for it would confirm their ill beliefs of her.

Lunafreya watched this with a conflicted heart.

She understood the people's actions, but also knew the princess was not evil as they believed. The oracle sighed and hoped Imperatrix would not take these insult to her father.

Peace was right on the horizon.

"I don't have to repeat my warning, do I?" Nyx lifted his eyebrow accusingly to the princess.

Only a door separated two enemies that had been feuding for centuries.

She sighed. "I will mind my manners, I assure you."

Compliance would expedite the process and Imperatrix was ready to vacate the area. The Lucian's negativity was so vast she could choke on it.

The three were announced first and then permitted entrance to the throne room.

Nyx took position by the door while the girls entered further to the raised steps, standing before the king and his shield. Regis seemed to only have eyes for Lunafreya and Imperatrix went largely unnoticed.

The king looked so very old to the princess.

All the pictures she'd viewed of Regis Lucis Caelum detailed a refined adult with midnight hair, sparkling green eyes, tall stature, and a glow about him.

This weary, limping, relic was not the person from their reports. The sight of such a worn-down king still in the prime of his reign, saddened Imperatrix.

Her father was twenty years older than Regis and he appeared far more youthful and able, not requiring a cane or knee-brace to walk.

The crystal's legendary power came at a heavy cost. Why ever did the emperor covet such a double-edged sword?

"Princess Imperatrix, I have not laid eyes on you since you were a child. I might've mistaken you for Valeria." The king spoke with warmth.

The mention of her mother stung. Imperatrix had to inhale deeply to avoid choking on her words.

It had been years, but time didn't heal all wounds.

"I am afraid I do not recall our meeting, Your Majesty." Remembering her manners, the princess gave a shallow curtsey.

"Rise, child." Regis commanded and sat upon his throne.

She obeyed and the king elaborated on the past encounter.

"We weren't introduced I'm afraid. Your mother was giving a speech and I watched you from the crowd." He turned to his shield. "She clung to Valeria's skirt the entire time, didn't she, Clarus?"

He chuckled. "Nearly made her mother trip too."

Faintly, Imperatrix's cheeks colored. Of course the king would bring up something mortifying.

It seemed the older adults became the more they enjoyed humiliating the young.

As if it wasn't embarrassing enough to have her father bring up childhood memories, now she had the enemy king doing it as well!

"Forgive me, but I won't be able to present Noctis to you as custom dictates. He is engaged with other matters." Regis informed them with regret.

Lunafreya's deflated countenance tugged at his heart.

"That is unfortunate. I am sure the bride was eager to speak with her intended before the wedding." The princess accepted as was required.

It would be impertinent for her to inquire further, though she burned to know why the prince was not present for all the trouble the king went through with this urgent audience.

"Speaking of the wedding, there are some words of wisdom I would share with my future daughter-in-law. Would you mind waiting outside, Princess Imperatrix?"

Unable to defy an order of a king, the princess respectfully bowed her head and stepped down from the dais.

He had received her as expected of her rank, she could make no demands or behave in a manner that slighted King Regis.

Imperatrix would not give the Lucians cause to rally against her father's treaty.

Nyx opened the door for her and she spared him a polite nod in exit. The princess claimed a seat in the outside chamber, withdrawing her phone from the thigh holster to draft a message to her father.

An explanation would be needed for their delay.

Minutes after she sent the message he responded. Her father wasn't fazed by Regis's underhanded tactic and reiterated his desire for her to watch Lunafreya.

More guards walked by and muttered about the princess. She put away her phone before they could accuse of her of some crazy plot.

"One more day and I can return home." Imperatrix mumbled to herself, praying to The Six to get her through this treaty signing.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"A most grand reception, King Regis!" Iedolas waved for his guards to linger with only his daughter continuing after him. "You honor all of Niflheim."

"The honor is ours, Emperor Iedolas. You have ventured far and grace us with your presence." He responded cordially once the royals were before him.

Fireworks went off in the background, illuminating the two monarchs and leaving Imperatrix in a state of awe.

Other courtiers pretended to converse, but were observing the exchange. The emperor preened as usual under attention while the king was indifferent to the stares.

This level of magnetism that the two rulers radiated was what the princess strived for.

"It was the least I could do." Iedolas took Imperatrix's hand and presented her to Regis, smiling at the man's slight head tilt to his daughter's curtsy. "You have met my heir, yes?"

"She has grown into a fine princess." Regis lightened his tone when speaking of her.

The emperor puffed up at the compliment, thumb tracing pleased circles on the princess's hand. "And what of your boy? Will you introduce us?"

"Noctis is too busy with wedding preparations to make an appearance."

Why was the king still refusing to present his son?

Even though her father had been disappointed that his first-born was not a son, after she grew older the emperor never missed an opportunity to show off his heir. Bragging became a known factor of his as Imperatrix embraced her duties as crown princess.

By eleven years old, the princess had been involved in politics and by fourteen she'd been thrust into war. From nobles to peasants, the people knew of her and adored the ever-involved princess.

The peace treaty was momentous for his country. How could the crown prince not attend?

"Tomorrow will be a historic day for both our nations." Iedolas dropped his daughter's hand to circle the balcony, admiring the city below. "Insomnia is truly a marvel. My own city pales in comparison!"

Imperatrix discretely huffed.

Their home had no equal.

"The princess disagrees with you." Amusement replaced the king's apprehensiveness in his tone.

"Forgive me, but one's home shall always outshine any other place. Your city is exquisite, but Gralea is magnificent." She asserted without contrition. Her stomach floundered at the flicker of immense satisfaction she caught in the emperor's gaze.

Iedolas affectionately stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles once near. "I pray we are able to take away _much_ from this visit."

There was hidden meaning somewhere in that statement, but Imperatrix didn't have long to ponder on it as her father dismissed her to enjoy the party while the rulers continued conversing.

The princess wandered the terrace, looking for either of the Fleuret siblings.

Ravus had been in a snit after finding out about Regis's impromptu audience. If he chose to attend the party, then he was likely to cause a scene with either his sister or the king.

"Princess, would you honor me with a dance?" Ardyn magically appeared in her path, palm outstretched and smiling deviously.

"I must find Lady Lunafreya." Imperatrix declined, citing her mission as the basis of her refusal and stepping past him.

"But I know where she is."

Imperatrix returned back to Ardyn's side, already knowing where this was going. "And you will only tell me if I dance with you?"

"Even better, I'll take you to her." His smile broadened when she wordlessly gave him her hand.

The chancellor led her to the dance floor where other couples were engaged in a slow waltz. Ardyn seamlessly spun her into his chest and began their dance.

If his hand dared stray from her back, Imperatrix would break the limb.

"May I say how stunning you look? Were we in the capital your father would spend the evening _literally_ shooting down suitors." Ardyn hummed appreciatively.

"I would return the compliment if you had dressed differently." She contributed aloofly, fighting off a blush from the intensity of his gaze.

His attire for the evening was the usual flamboyant uniform, with the exception of the long feather guard on his arm that was tickling her back with every sway.

As the chancellor, Ardyn was given a substantial salary, acquiring formal robes was well within his means. Appearing as he did was plain lazy and disrespectful, but that was the red-head's way with most official matters.

"But I'm the chancellor, I'm not meant to stand out. Not like you anyway." Ardyn whined, rankled by Imperatrix's unimpressed glower.

"But you are allowed to carry a weapon on you?" She countered.

The hilt of a blade had jabbed her stomach when he pulled her up from the dip.

"Don't be jealous." He drummed his fingers on her back. "There are plenty of guards here to protect you."

"I am a soldier, I would rather protect myself."

Forcing her out the hotel this morning without a concealable weapon was unwise.

Withholding her sword Imperatrix could understand, but refusing her at least a knife was unsettling. She would have disobeyed the stipulation for attending the party if it hadn't come directly from her father.

What if the glaive had been a kidnapper? She wouldn't have come out of that encounter unscathed.

"Well you're a princess for today which means no maiming anyone." Ardyn tutted. "You and Ravus are such bloodthirsty hounds!"

"I am not bloodthirsty and I have only maimed people trying to kill me."

"People try to kill you on a daily basis then."

"Such is the burden of royal blood."

Assassinations were a common issue among nobles and royalty.

"Indeed it is." A dark look crossed Ardyn's face. The song ended and his face returned to a state of airy impishness. "Can I tempt you for another dance, Princess?"

"I think not." Imperatrix removed herself from his hold before he could twirl her into the next song. "The agreement was for one dance."

"Very well, my dear." Ardyn snatched up her hand and placed a courteous kiss upon it. "As promised, I shall lead you to Lady Lunafreya."

The chancellor looped her arm through his and led the way. Imperatrix caught sight of her father watching them from the upper floor.

He looked disturbed about something and his lips moved in a wordless message. She couldn't read lips well and would have to see him later about his troubles.

"I last saw her here, Imperatrix." Ardyn held open a balcony door.

She stepped out and saw no one, only the bright moon and glittering city. "Are you sure she was out here?"

After receiving no answer, the princess turned around. Her guide had vanished into thin air.

"Ardyn?" Imperatrix called again, thinking this was another one of his jokes.

She searched along the balcony for the red-head. There was no way he could vanish without uttering a sound.

"Lunafreya?!" The princess exclaimed after encountering the girl laid out on the ground.

An immediate flash of Ravus's distraught face entered Imperatrix's mind. He would tear down the whole city if anything happened to his sister and the princess wouldn't blame him for the reaction.

"She's merely unconscious."

Imperatrix took a protective stance in front of Lunafreya. Her eyes darted around to locate the speaker.

"It is I, Your Highness." A heavily-armored figure stepped into sight from behind a column.

"General Glauca." She relaxed. "Did you see who attacked Lady Lunafreya?"

"I did." His distorted voice and imposing figure frightened most, but the princess was used to it.

At the behest of her father the general had trained her. His conditioning had been beyond grueling, leaving a young Imperatrix covered from head to toe in bruises, but it had made her strong and for that Glauca had earned her respect and gratitude.

"Good. They will be severely punished for harming her."

"Why care? There is no love lost between you two." He crossed his arms and tilted his head down, a stance Imperatrix knew meant he desired an explanation. He tested her like this whenever she made a foolish mistake in training. "This is a matter for her advisors."

"I care because she is under the protection of the empire!" Imperatrix hissed, affronted by his callous opinion of her. To be accused of cruelty by strangers didn't bother her, but to be confronted with it by a comrade was hurtful."No matter the ills between us, I will safeguard her as I would any citizen of Niflheim. That is my sworn duty as crown princess!"

A deep rumbled resonated from Glauca.

Imperatrix cursed the mystery surrounding the general. Without a face to see and technology scrambling his voice, the princess couldn't determine if the laughter was mocking or intrigued. He wasn't shaking his head or stomping his foot so his reaction couldn't be negative.

She truly desired to unveil Glauca's mystery.

Was he even male? Assumption led to that given the aggressive mannerisms and speech patterns of the general.

Imperatrix believed Glauca would reveal himself to her at some point, but his armor stayed on. Her father might be the only person cognizant of the general's identity.

"Your devotion is exemplary. Niflheim would know no better empress than you, Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt." Glauca unfolded his arms and slackened his posture.

"Thank you, General. You seldom speak so kindly. " Imperatrix kneeled next to Lunafreya, slipping her hands underneath the oracle to pick her up.

A nod or a bark for her to continue were the nicest forms of encouragement she received from the general. A man as harsh as him practiced a rigorous version of "tough love".

A thought occurred to the princess.

If General Glauca was present for the assailant's attack then why didn't he capture them?

"It _almost_ disheartens me to do this." He said somberly.

Imperatrix wasn't quick enough to avoid the powerful strike to her head. Black spots took over her vision and she fell on top of Lunafreya.

"G-Glauca, why?" The princess struggled to stay conscious.

"For the empire."

His foot coming towards her was the last thing Imperatrix saw.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why are you here with Lunafreya? What's the emperor playing at?!" Nyx shouted at Imperatrix.

"I have no idea what's going on. I am as confused as you are." She didn't back down from the glaive's anger.

Her nose still stung from resetting it and she had a throbbing headache. Imperatrix's patience was already dangerously low and dealing with a grieving soldier was not helping matters.

Nyx's comrade had just been killed by a daemon and at the moment he was looking for an easy target to vent on. In his mind Imperatrix was indubitably behind this.

As if she planned to be locked in a room with Lunafreya on an airship monitored by magitek soldiers while her father signed the peace treaty. As princess she was meant to be present and stand as a witness.

"Bullshit!" Nyx seized her arm, yanking the princess closer. "Tell me what's going on!"

"I don't know!" Imperatrix insisted, grimacing from how tightly he was squeezing her arm.

If he didn't let go she would respond in kind with violence.

Lunafreya hesitated to get between the two. She was unsure of the validity of Imperatrix's answers.

The imperial princess had awoken in the same room as her and was confused as to why. The oracle found it hard to believe that General Glauca had subdued and kidnapped Imperatrix. He was a dog of the emperor and Iedolas wouldn't harm his precious heir.

Yet, the oracle wanted to believe Imperatrix. She had shown Lunafreya kindness and it didn't make sense for her to lock herself in an airship.

"Hold on a sec." Nyx loosened his grip on the princess to speak into the comm in his ear. "Target secured, but I've got some added baggage."

Imperatrix glared right back at him as he relayed the situation to his superior.

"Are you kidding, Captain?!" The glaive complained, letting go of the princess to speak further without being heard.

His expression went from miffed to enraged.

"What did your captain say? He must have forbade you from killing me with your level of displeasure." Imperatrix rubbed her arm, cautiously observing the man for any sudden moves.

She was unarmed and bogged down by a party dress. If he had been given authorization to torture her for information the princess wouldn't be able to overpower him.

"You're coming with me, Princess Imperatrix. You're now a hostage of the crown." Nyx informed her.

She huffed. The tormenting would come later then.

Or perhaps they planned to use her as leverage.

King Regis could present her father with an ultimatum; leave Insomnia undisturbed or watch his daughter be executed.

A wise tactic for a weakened enemy backed into a corner.

The glaive could tell Imperatrix opposed his order, his fingers twitched, tingling with magic. "Are you going to resist?"

The princess saw actual sparks emitting from Nyx's hand and clenched her fist. "Do as you will, Glaive."

"Smart move. I'd hate to blemish your record as _The_ _Unbreakable Sword_."

"Revel to your heart's content. Were I armed, you would be crushed, _Hero_."

"Guess we'll never know."

Nyx tugged Imperatrix forward into a sprint. Lunafreya hastily followed them.

The three weren't running down the ramps long when they caught sight of an explosion coming from the city.

Large specks of colored light appeared on the Great Wall of Insomnia, expanding along the dome. Then suddenly, as if something had struck it, the wall shattered with millions of pieces falling like stars into Insomnia.

"It's gone…" Lunafreya whispered brokenly, clutching onto the window to hold herself up.

Nyx let go of Imperatrix's arm, staring unfocused out the window.

The last line of defense against Niflheim had been destroyed. There would be no where else to run.

"But how?" The princess was both horrified and amazed at the sight of the wall collapsing. A terrible weight settled in her stomach.

What was going on in the city? Was her father safe?!

A pair of glaives approached the three.

Nyx tore his eyes from the window to shout at them. "Fall back, it's a trap!"

They ignored him, pressing on towards them.

"Didn't you hear me? I said fall back!"

As he moved to meet his comrades another glaive dropped from above, landing behind Lunafreya. The glint of a dagger prompted Imperatrix to pull the oracle away and snap at Nyx.

"Stop him!" She demanded.

He didn't delay, intercepting the attack and snapping the glaive's neck. Nyx froze, it suddenly hit him that he'd killed someone he fought alongside countless times.

"What the hell's going on?" He asked, willing his hands to stop shaking.

"You have been betrayed!" Imperatrix's blunt proclamation snapped him out of his stupor.

He was helpless to stop one of the glaives from stabbing the another comrade. The dead soldier was tossed overboard like garbage.

Lunafreya gasped at the savagery.

"You bastard!" Nyx shoved his regret to the back of his mind and charged.

The fight was put on hold by the ship lurching from an exterior impact. Fire erupted in the area.

The glaive hurriedly helped the girls up an entryway to escape the flames. With the ship's new angle, all three slid uncontrollably down a hall and to the outside portion of the splitting airship.

The oracle grabbed onto the nearest object, which turned out to be the princess. Nyx caught Imperatrix's hand, stopping the girl's fall. He yelled in exertion from sustaining himself and two bodies.

Their arrangement wouldn't last long. He had to do something, fast. The choice was made by a rouge glaive attacking him and Nyx was forced to let go of the girls.

Lunafreya and Imperatrix screamed as they fell.

The princess racked her brain for a solution to their predicament, but there was none; Nyx was fighting off the enemy and they were falling too fast for him to reach them.

They were going to fall to their deaths!

Strangled gasps came from the girls as they were grabbed midair by the tentacle of a daemon. It roared in their faces, revealing sharp teeth with bodies still caught on some of the dentures.

The oracle felt ill from the sight.

"Hold on!" A falling Nyx screamed, hurling his kukri into the tentacle holding the girls and teleporting beneath them.

Fire gathered in his hand.

"Nyx!" Lunafreya called worriedly.

"You are going to get killed, you reckless fool!" The princess berated the dangling man.

"Didn't know you cared." He retorted, preparing to launch the fireball.

The daemon swung its tentacle, attempting to shake off Nyx. The motion caused the fireball to explode near the beast's body and it howled. More fireballs were launched at it till the daemon dropped the girls.

The gliave jumped after them, using the kukri to teleport closer when debris got in his way. He reached for the girl nearest to him and latched onto a beam. Unfortunately, it broke under their weight and Nyx lost his grip on Imperatrix.

The princess managed to grab ahold of the ramp and hung precariously with Lunafreya clinging to her hand. Nyx swung himself up to the ledge and leaned over it.

"You've got some muscle for a princess." He reached for Imperatrix's arm.

"I am not a princess from storybooks." The princess grunted, turning red from the strain.

The glaive snorted. "No you're not. Now let go, I've got you."

Nyx couldn't pull her up unless she let go. Imperatrix looked away from him to Lunafreya.

Protecting her subject and more importantly, Ravus's sister, came first.

"Take Lunafreya."

"Are you crazy?! You can't pull her up. Just let go!" He punctuated this command with a squeeze on her wrist.

"Our combined weight will be too much for you. Secure Lunafreya!"

"Seriously?! Stop argu-" Nyx paused to asses the daemon returning for them. "Pull her up then!" He conceded.

Imperatrix warned the girl before she began the arduous task of lifting the girl. Miraculously, she accomplished getting the oracle to Nyx.

Lunafreya held her hand out for the princess and she took it. The glaive reclaimed his previous hold on the princess's wrist.

This time when told to let go, she obeyed and was pulled to safety.

"That was ballsy!" Nyx panted, impressed that Imperatrix had stuck her neck out for Lunafreya without any prompting from him.

She didn't have to insist on saving the oracle first.

Niffs were notorious for only caring about themselves. Color him surprised!

"Look out!" Lunafreya warned them too late.

The daemon swopped down on them, tentacles whipping at Nyx. He created a barrier to deflect the assault, but that left the ramp they were standing on to take the damage. The structure began detaching from the wall.

Another airship arriving distracted the daemon and Nyx snarled. Being attacked on two fronts was entirely unfair!

The bridge lowered and a familiar face stepped out.

"Luche!" He yelled enthusiastically.

The blonde man didn't get a chance to respond as a tentacle knocked him away.

Imperatrix sighed, dismayed. "He had the element of surprise...and he wasted it."

"Shut up." The glaive weakly countered. Out of the corner of his eye, Nyx detected Lunafreya moving away. "What're you doing?!"

His hand missed reaching the oracle as she leapt off the ramp to a lowered panel and pulled herself into the interior of the ship.

"Go, go!" He panicked, pushing Imperatrix in the same direction.

"We are too far from it now!" She pushed back against the shoving.

The girl's actions had dislodged the ramp. A jump from their present location would fail.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Nyx groused, tempted to punch something. "Only one way to get there now."

"And that is?"

"Don't hit me."

"Why would I do tha-"

Imperatrix sputtered incoherently as Nyx tugged her to his chest and threw his weapon. Instantaneously, they were transported to the inside of the ship and rolled into a wall with the princess sprawled on top of the glaive.

"I am going to be sick." She slipped off Nyx and fought off the urge to dry-heave.

Teleporting was ineffectual on the battlefield if it left soldiers in such a state of motion-sickness and disorientation. The crystal's magic was downright dreadful.

How did the Kingsglaive suffer through teleportation?!

"It'll pass." Nyx assured her.

The princess wobbly moved into a sitting position.

"Come on, we don't have time." He carefully helped the dazed woman to her feet. "Where could Lunafreya have gone?"

"She went for the cockpit." Imperatrix pointed to the door most likely taken by the girl.

"How do you know that?"

"It is what I would have done."

Nyx decided to follow her advice and let the princess lead him to the piloting area. Lunafreya was indeed inside and trying to work the controls.

The glaive raced up to the oracle.

"They teach piloting back at the royal academy?" He jibed.

"They do, it is a fairly basic skill in the empire." Imperatrix threw back, moving to take over. "I will fly the ship."

"Yeah, fly us right to Niflheim and stuff us in a cell!" Nyx shot her down, swatting her hands away from the controls.

Lunafreya leaned back in the seat, avoiding the feud.

"Do you want to die? You have no idea how to fly this aircraft!"

"I've got an idea of how to." He replaced the oracle in the pilot's seat and flippantly gestured to the co-pilot seat. "Better buckle up, ladies."

Imperatrix scoffed, unimpressed. "Buckle up for our imminent deaths."

"I got this!"

"I do not mean to insult you...perhaps Imperatrix should pilot..." Lunafreya butted in, deciding to give the princess the benefit of doubt. the princess had saved her, a little trust was warranted.

"You too?" He looked mildly wounded. "I commandeered an imperial airship once or twice. I'm not full of hot air."

The explanation soothed some of Imperatrix's worry, but she still wasn't convinced.

"We're wasting time with this, please take your seats."

"Show me these flying skills of yours then, Glaive." The princess yielded, sharing the seat with Lunafreya.

"Prepare to be so amazed you'll be offering me a job!"

The ship smoothly angled away from the debris of the other fallen dreadnaughts and towards Insomnia. Seeing that Nyx proved to be a competent flyer, Imperatrix turned scolding eyes onto the oracle.

"Do not be so rash next time, Lunafreya. You could have died!" Jumping from a ledge and steering an aircraft was beyond foolish for a girl as sheltered as her.

The girl bristled at the chastisement, justifying her actions with a stubborn frown. "I was trying to help."

"By gambling that you would make that leap? Or by hitting every button on the console and hoping the ship would move?"

The oracle pursed her lips, cheeks taking on a pink hue. "Given time I would have figured it out."

Imperatrix blinked, not expecting such an immature argument from her.

"That is an impudent girl speaking, not the oracle of Tenebrae." A sigh escaped from her. "And Ravus lectured me about rooting out childish behavior."

The hypocrite!

"I will not stand idly by when I'm able to do something!" She cast her eyes to the side, clenching her dress with balled fist.

The princess shook her head. The girl was missing the point.

"It is not your reasoning I was admonishing, it was your methods."

Lunafreya remained silent.

Truly, it was like dealing with one of her sisters whenever Imperatrix sat them down with an explanation for the scolding. The oracle was far more bull-headed than any of three younger girls and wouldn't be owning up to her mistake.

The females were jerked forward as the ship dipped sharply downward.

"What are you doing?!" Imperatrix shrieked.

They were headed towards a tower at a rapid rate.

"We've got a daemon to get rid of." Nyx responded and right on cue, tentacles obscured the view.

"How is this going to get rid of it?! Pull up already!"

"Quit shouting orders and watch!" At the last moment he swerved, impaling the daemon on the tower's tip. "How bout that, Princess Imperatrix?!"

She rolled her eyes at the smirking glaive. "Well played. Maybe I would offer you a job."

"So you can be nice."

The ship rocked from an internal explosion. Nyx frowned, checking if he still had control.

"Take me back to King Regis." Lunafreya abruptly demanded.

"Are you outta your mind? Insomnia's a war zone." The glaive rejected the idea.

"I have a duty. I cannot neglect it." She pushed the subject.

Imperatrix wasn't sure what they were going on about. The duty of the oracle was to heal starscourge and commune with the gods. What did King Regis have to do with any of that?

Lunafreya should be more concerned with finding her brother.

"I've heard all that before." Nyx pointed out dryly.

"Then you know we must hurry!"

"Hurry to do what?! Get yourself killed like you almost did earlier?!"

What was with her blind confidence?!

Lunafreya was the oracle for crying out loud! Shouldn't she be more level-headed?

Nyx could only attribute her behavior to the stupidity of royal privilege. Royals had in their heads that they could do just about anything.

He'd wanted to cuss her out for the stunt on the ramp, but Imperatrix beat him to it.

The "hero" moniker of his was really a snide reminder of all the dangerous stunts he pulled on the field, but maybe Lunafreya Nox Fleuret deserved it more.

Nyx could at least take of himself in dire situations.

"I do not fear death!" Lunafreya proclaimed.

"Oh, enough with this almighty princess act!" Nyx slammed his hand on the dashboard. The look of alarm on her face caused him to sigh and dial back the aggression.

"Where are we going?" Imperatrix posed in the lull.

She wanted to locate her father, but the princess knew he was in safe hands between the chancellor, Ravus, and the guards.

The oracle was the more pressing responsibility and couldn't be abandoned.

"Just pray this thing makes the trip." Nyx dodged the question.

The princess also hadn't forgotten that the glaive claimed her as his hostage. Were she to flee he would pursue her.

"The crystal!" Lunafreya leaned forward.

The magical artifact was being towed to a warship. Her father must've been aboard the very one.

Had he…conspired this whole situation?

Was the peace treaty a scheme to capture the crystal?

The emperor couldn't have done all this for a rock...

"You are going too fast. You have to land." Lunafreya remarked to the pilot.

"You're gonna have to give me a minute on that."

The sensors and alarms started ringing.

"Would you like to switch now?" Imperatrix offered snidely in light of Nyx's agitation.

"Not a chance!"

"There is no time. I will go on my own." The oracle announced over the squabbling.

"How will you do that?"

"You got wings underneath that dress?"

She floundered, slowly digesting the two responses and vexed faces examining her with exasperation. Consistently being treated like a child by these two was beginning to rub Lunafreya the wrong way.

Ravus's fretting was a nuisance on its own. The princess of Niflheim and the glaive of Insomnia judging her at every turn due to her age was aggravating.

Lunafreya knew what she was doing!

"You can't use magic. There's no way for you to reach them." Nyx urged the girl to see reason.

"Not all miracles are made by magic." The sun bathed Lunafreya in a halo, momentarily enrapturing the skeptics. "I do not fear death. What I fear, is doing nothing and losing everything."

While Nyx and Imperatrix were astonished and blinded, the oracle slipped out of her seat and into the gaping hole in the cockpit.

"Lunafreya!" The princess reached out in vain for the girl.

"Oh, come on!" Nyx threw off his seat belt and moved next to Imperatrix. "Get on my back." He said without preamble.

"Excuse me?"

"Now!" A kukri was pointed at her throat.

"Fine." She wrapped her arms around his neck after he removed the dagger.

They were out the airship and free falling.

Imperatrix swore that Ravus would get an earful from her about his sister.

Confining the girl to their manor had made Lunafreya too unmindful of safety. So used to comfort and serenity, the oracle had no sense of fear like a soldier that actually looked death in eye did.

Nyx adjusted their trajectory and they reached their target. He threw his weapon, transporting them all to the balcony of the palace. Imperatrix took the brute of their landing and the glaive apologized for crushing her after rolling off her.

"You can thank magic for that miracle, _Princess!_ " The glaive heckled Lunafreya, taking a minute to catch his breath.

The glowing markings adorning his face piqued Imperatrix's interest. It looked painful, but Nyx didn't seem bothered by it.

"We must hurry." The oracle maintained, back on her feet and ready to go.

The magic hadn't affected her like it did the princess. How was she not nauseous?

"You heard her, up and at'er." Nyx hovered over the woman still on the ground and holding her stomach.

He offered her a hand.

When she stared it suspiciously, he chuckled. "I don't bite."

Imperatrix accepted the offer of help. "I have seen kittens with sharper teeth than you."

"Betch'a see those snarling teeth often, not surprising for a Niff."

"The correct term is _Nephilim_ , we are the children of the gods. Not your derogatory, _Niff_."

Lunafreya ran, for the king needed her.

"Why does she keep running off?!" Nyx complained.

"I suppose when you have been locked away all you want to do is run."

The glaive and the princess ran after the oracle.

"And whose fault is that?" He accused thoughtlessly.

"Not mine. Her brother did that."

"Shocker!"

They quickly caught up to Lunafreya.

Nyx didn't bother rebuking the girl, knowing it to be a waste. He sprinted forward to take the lead and guide them to where the king would be.

"What is so important that you had to return here?" Imperatrix interrogated the girl.

The glaive was curious too and didn't criticize the princess for prying.

"Emperor Iedolas has taken the crystal, but that is not the true treasure." She answered vaguely.

"Are you referring to Prince Noctis? Or an actual treasure?"

He snickered at the flush that could've been from exertion, but most likely was triggered by a lovesick heart. It was obvious how fond Lunafreya was of the prince from the short discussion with the king.

Nyx sprinted harder as they came upon the conference room. He could see three figures inside. One of them dropped to the ground.

"Ravus!" The oracle cried out, paling at the sight of her brother convulsing on the ground as his arm was eaten away by blue flames.

The smell of charred flesh made Imperatrix gag.

Dead bodies were scattered throughout the room and the king's shield was suspended from the wall by a sword impaling his back. General Glauca stood in the middle of the carnage with King Regis cradling his mutilated hand.

A ring cluttered to floor and rolled towards the king. The general raised his blade to end the king before he could claim it.

"Look out!" Lunafreya darted to the Regis's side.

Nyx engaged the armored titan. The princess had to duck as the glaive was immediately tossed into the wall. She slide near Ravus, assessing the damage.

His entire arm had been destroyed, a cauterized stump at the shoulder all that was left.

"The ring did this?" Imperatrix stalled in touching the thrashing man.

Not once had she witnessed Ravus so broken and distressed.

When he was first brought to the capital after the attack on Tenebrae, she'd anticipated a grieving, belligerent boy to greet her father, instead, he pledged fealty with little delay.

Amazingly, most the ex-prince's wrath was directed at the King Regis, not Emperor Iedolas, and by extension her.

"Luna?" Ravus feverishly called for his sister.

The oracle didn't register his plight as she assisted the king in escaping.

"Impera, don't let him take Luna from me too…not like mother!" He worked himself up with delusions caused by the pain.

"You are not thinking straight, you need a doctor." She tried to stop his flailing and help him up, but Ravus knocked her off.

"Do not let him take my sister! You should understand!"

That struck a nerve.

Imperatrix ground her teeth, two difficult choices were before her.

She could leave Lunafreya to her own devices and get Ravus to safety, or she could leave him to protect what he held most dear.

Deserting an injured comrade didn't sit well with the princess.

He would never forgive her if his sister died on her watch and Imperatrix would have to live with the guilt of abandoning a defenseless girl in a war zone.

"I understand, my friend." The princess rose to chase after Lunafreya.

"You're not going anywhere, Imperatrix." Glauca slammed Nyx into the ground and swung his sword at her.

Her familiarity with the general's fighting style was the only reason she managed to dodge the strike.

The princess frantically scanned the room for something to defend herself with. Sadly, there were no weapons lying around since the fallen consisted of Lucians, and they summoned their weapons with magic.

"Betrayal appears to be a theme today." Imperatrix hissed, shifting into a defensive stance.

Her teacher had become her enemy and possibly a enemy to the empire. What subject would murder their princess?!

"Don't, he'll kill you." Nyx wheezed from beneath Glauca's foot that was crushing his lungs.

"What choice do I have? If the general has targeted me, death is all but assured."

"Correct, so stand and face your fate as I taught you." The general marched forward.

Blood rushed to Imperatrix's ears, Glauca became her only focus. If he was going to kill her she would not make it easy.

"Why do this?" The princess inquired before the match could begin.

The general stilled, unable to answer after lighting sent him into the wall.

"Quickly, through here!" Regis signaled to the elevator he'd opened.

His magic kept the greatest threat pinned to the wall.

Nyx materialized next to Imperatrix and then they were inside the elevator. The king backed up, ending the lighting and joining the three on the elevator.

The princess fell against the wall as the lift began to move, adrenaline and fear hit her like a mallet.

Glauca really would have cut her down.

"This leads to a hidden passage way. Follow it." Regis instructed briskly, leaning heavily on his returned cane. "Once away, make way for Altissa. Noctis awaits you there."

"Majesty?" Lunafreya stole a furtive glance at Imperatrix while she wrapped the king's mangled hand.

Could they trust the imperial princess not to compromise the prince's safety?

"It's alright, Luna."

"The prince was never here, was he?!" Imperatrix came to understand that neither party believed in the treaty.

All of it had been a farce!

"No."

"You knew this was coming?!" Nyx muttered, disgusted with the king he'd pledged himself to.

Had Libertus been right about him?!

"Yes." He admitted grimly. The weight of all the innocent lives lost weighed on Regis terribly and he slumped forward, not as a king, but a guilty man. "It was the only way to draw their wrath from Noctis."

"Is that the way of our king?" The glaive snarled. Lunafreya flinched from the burst of anger. "Sacrificing Lucian sons to save his own?!"

"To save the world!" The oracle came to the king's defense.

"How is a boy going to save the world?" Imperatrix dubiously questioned. Nonsense was all she was hearing.

What kind of monarch sacrificed his entire city for the well-being of one person?! It was blasphemy to her!

King Regis had a responsibility to every citizen under his domain. If he knew the treaty was a ploy he should've rejected it or surrendered. He should've surrendered a long time ago!

What madness had this man set in motion?!

The king slammed his cane on the ground, fixing Nyx with the unyielding stare of a desperate man out of options.

"See Luna safely to Altissa!"

The glaive was unmoved by the command.

Regis aged in seconds, shoulders hunching and wearily holding himself up. "This not an order from a king to his glaive...this is a plea from one man to another. Please Nyx Ulric, keep her safe...and the future of all."

"The future?" Nyx scrunched his face in thought, caught in a memory.

He turned to Imperatrix. "You are not your father, I have seen you walk a different path. Ally with my son, work towards real peace...towards a better future."

"How…how do you expect me to do that, Your Majesty?" The princess balked at the king.

She'd already been tasked with Lunafreya's safety by Ravus. Now her enemy was requesting the impossible.

"You will find the way." She didn't understand the meaningful appraisal he was giving her.

The elevator shook.

"Take this." Regis passed the family heirloom, the Ring of Lucii to Lunafreya, enclosing her hand around it and savoring the warmth of her smaller hand. "It is time it passed to another's keeping."

The king had done all he could.

His time was running out and destiny was calling. The future would now be left in the hands of the young.

The elevator opened and the group departed. Lunafreya lagged behind with Regis until he abruptly released her hand with a resigned sense of sadness.

The oracle teared up, recalling the similarity to when she pulled away from the king fleeing her home.

It seemed cruel that after re-connecting with the man she'd held as a father-figure in her heart, she was about to lose him, and lose him in a parallel manner to the first parting. Noctis and Regis had spent less than a few months in Tenebrae and yet that period was a tender portion of her childhood.

Why?!

A crystal barried formed between the king and oracle.

"No, please don't. Stop!" Lunafreya banged her hand on the translucent shield. "Do not leave us!"

Imperatrix felt as though she was intruding on such a personal exchange. A flare of anger overtook her.

Ravus had expressed the same sentiment for a sister that hadn't come to his aid.

Lunafreya held too much care for a man that played no part in her life and too little for the one that had been present for far longer!

"I know your mother would wish the same as me, that you and Noctis live happily." Regis shook, as regretful and weak as an elder on his death bed with too much unfinished. "All those years captive, because I failed you. Not again! Locked doors will seal your fate no longer."

"King Regis!"

The elevator trembled at the the general's arrival.

"Our hope goes with you now, Nyx Ulric." Regis turned his back to the children, limping forward to face his destiny. "Godspeed, children..."

Nyx nodded, accepting his last mission as Kingsglaive. Lunafreya resisted his tugging, keeping the king in sight for as long as she could.

General Glauca emerged from the ruins of the elevator, bowing contemptuously to the king.

The first strike was delivered by Regis. Lightning struck and proved ineffective against its target. The attack was weakened from the king sustaining the barrier.

The general fended off the magic with his sword, leisurely approaching his prey.

"Behold, the king of Lucis! War within his precious wall. Where is your tranquility now?" Glauca taunted, the red of his armor glowing maliciously. "Here is your peace by steel, swift descent!"

He struck Regis with the hilt and drove the blade into the king's back.

The children all sucked in a collective breath.

Lunafreya fell backwards as if she'd taken the blow. Imperatrix caught the quivering girl. When she tried to turn in her grasp, the princess forced her to look forward.

"Do not look away, these are his last moments. Honor them..." Imperatrix had experienced the fall of many good soldiers.

It was heart-wrenching each time, but death shouldn't be faced alone in her opinion. The least she could do for the dying was to be by their side till the end.

"Aeternum vale." The princess recited.

Lunafreya squared her shoulders and wiped her face. A sobbing oracle wouldn't be the last memory Regis had of her, a determined and strong oracle would be.

The king tugged his lips upward into a weak smile. Three young, sorrowful faces were the last thing his eyes took in as they went dim and the abyss called.

Glauca thrust the corpse off his blade. Nyx yelled and withdrew his weapon.

"No, we must get away from here!" Lunafreya pressed her hands to his chest. Her pleas weren't enough to calm the infuriated soldier. "It is what your king wanted!"

Imperatrix had to help restrain him. "I know revenge screams loudly, but you are no match for Glauca. Waste not your king's sacrifice, live another day!"

Nyx gaped at the imperial princess, really looking at her. She wasn't smiling or gloating about the death of her enemy, she was as stricken as them over the loss of life.

He couldn't afford to be emotional when two princesses were depending on him. Pragmatism had to win over sentimentality.

With great reluctance, the glaive turned and ran with the girls.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What the hell did you do to piss these things off?!" Nyx carped at the oracle.

He bumped into Imperatrix, panting hard enough that he needed to kneel and catch his breath.

Without the king's magic for combat purposes he was having a harder time fighting off the horde of magitek machinery and turncoat glaives.

"It is not me they are after, it is the ring." Lunafreya rubbed her injured shoulder.

Imperatrix tore off the bottom of her ruined dress for maneuverability. She refused to be impeded by the thing a moment longer.

Search lights passed the room they were hiding in.

Nyx urged the girls to move, avoiding the machines hunting them.

"What's so special about this ring?" He huffed, wiping dirt off his face. "The future's really riding on it?"

The three crouched behind a bookcase.

"He who wears the ring communes with the Lucii and commands great power." Lunafreya elaborated.

"What kind of power?"

"A forbidden one, filled within the ring long ago."

Imperatrix had heard tales from her father about the ring gifted to man by the gods, but she'd written it off as fantasy. The crystal already gave the Caelum family the power of magic. What need would they have of a magical ring?

"The old wall…" Nyx jerked in understanding. "I thought that was a bedtime story?"

A patrol flew by the windows.

"I can assure you, it is not. But the Lucii grant their power only to those they deem worthy."

"I take it Ravus didn't meet their standards?"

Imperatrix's nose twitched, remembering the sickening smell of burnt flesh.

"These twelve years have changed my brother. He is bound by the past and lost in his lust for power." Lunafreya sadly fixated on the floor.

The princess wanted to rectify the oracle's assessment of her brother, but a pair of flying daemons crashed through the windows.

"How the hell did they find us?!" Nyx wrestled with one of the winged-creatures, keeping its talons from skewering his face.

"Get down!" The princess rammed Lunafreya to the ground as the other daemon sailed past. She grabbed a computer and used it to strike the beast when it doubled back. "Damn it, I need a weapon!"

"I think you're doing alright with that computer." Nyx stabbed his attacker.

"Don't you have more than that kukri on you?" The princess examined his uniform for hidden daggers.

"Like what you see, Princess Imperatrix?" The glaive couldn't help teasing the woman as he parried a blow meant for her.

"I would like you more if you had not thrown away that dagger's twin!"

"Give me a break! How was I supposed to know I'd lose my magic?"

Nyx had thrown his weapon at the glaives chasing them in an airship, only to realize too late that he couldn't warp. Luckily, they were saved by that asshole from the gate patrol.

"Your military is too reliant on magic, it is disturbing." Imperatrix dropped the computer as he finished off the daemon. "Actually...I could take you magic-less soldiers in my present state."

"Really, let's test that." Nyx haughtily challenged.

"Later. We need to move, this place is compromised. " She dismissed the challenge.

"Wait." A flashing light stopped the glaive. He inspected the fallen daemon. "The hairpin. They're tracking it!"

"What?"

"Give it to me!" Nyx held out his hand to Lunafreya.

She gave it to him with little protest.

"How do you know that?" Doubt laced Imperatrix's voice.

He flipped the pin over. A red light flashed inside it.

"Unbelievable!"

Why had the princess been dragged into this in the first place if her father was keeping tabs on the oracle?!

"I had a little sister once...she was killed when the empire came. I couldn't save her..." Nyx defeatedly sank to the ground. "I was as helpless then as I am now! I couldn't show her the future she wanted."

How many people had he'd failed?

He'd led friends of his into a trap, Crowe had been killed, and Libertus turned his back on him.

How could he have lost so much in a day?!

Imperatrix grit her teeth. She couldn't deny that the empire left destruction in its wake. Conquest couldn't be acquired without sacrifice.

The princess tried to minimize those casualties by targeting military personnel. Sadly, not all shared her methods and she couldn't be in charge of every operation to mitigate the bloodshed.

Magitek soldiers made no distinction between civilians and fighters. Which is why she insisted on using human troops, but other members of the military felt less-inclined to spill Nephilim blood when machines were an option.

The Galahd acquisition was headed by General Glauca and he was merciless when ensuring there would be no resistance to the empire.

Nyx's loss was great...

"True power is not something that is found by those who seek it, it is something that comes to those that deserve it." Lunafreya said firmly, treading beyond formality. "Your sister wanted you to see a future as well."

The glaive swallowed heavily. He couldn't wallow in regret. Nyx had a job to do and wouldn't crumble in front of two girls younger than him.

"Anyone would wish the same for family they love…" The oracle trailed off.

"You don't pull any punches, do you?" Nyx laughed derisively. "I got two princesses riding my ass, lucky me."

Screeching and the sound of flapping wings made the two jump to their feet. Imperatrix backed away from the window.

Dozens of flying daemons had located them.

"Shit!" Nyx braced for them to swarm, but fortunately they circled him and not the girls.

They were reacting to the tracker!

"I'll lead them away, get out of here!"

"Let's go." Imperatrix took off with Lunafreya on her heels as gunfire tore into the building.

Escape was straight-forward with the daemons and machines preoccupied with Nyx.

The oracle was worried about his safety, but the princess her reassured her that a glaive would prevail and urged the girl to pick up her pace. They made it outside the building and saw the battle going on in the sky.

"Is that?" Lunafreya kneeled and picked something off the ground. "It is!"

She now possessed the tracker and the daemons were coming for them.

"Get rid of it!"

The oracle frantically looked around for a suitable place. The airship above them became her target.

"I cannot throw that far, you must toss it at the ship." Lunafreya transferred the tracker to Imperatrix.

The princess dithered only for a moment.

Traitorous glaives had taken over the aircraft, none of her people could be onboard. Nephilims would never attack her.

With a mighty throw, the tracker landed in the airship's thruster. The daemons crammed into the space, causing an explosion. The ship crashed into the building, filling the area with smoke.

Nyx hobbled out of the wreckage.

"Nice throw. Didn't know you had it in you." He greeted like his leg wasn't ailing him.

"It was us or them..." Imperatrix searched for usable items.

If she didn't get her hands on a weapon soon she would go mad.

"You really had nothing to do with this, did you?"

The princess hunching over in her ruined dress, covered in dirt and blood, didn't reconcile with the propaganda posters he'd seen in outer regions. Those posters depicted a radiant figure garnished in white armor wielding a mighty sword, or posters of a smiling princess rallying her people.

In Niflheim, Imperatrix was the golden princess who could no wrong.

Right now she looked like a dirty street urchin.

"Finally believe me, Nyx Ulric?"

"Hard not to when everyone's been trying to kill you." He sagged against a wall, alleviating the weight on his bad leg. "What'd you do?"

Imperatrix seriously considered his question. There were plenty of people with vendettas against her.

Many of the older noble families viewed her as an unsuitable heir simply due to her gender. One of them could have plotted to have her killed on foreign soil where the matter wouldn't be scrutinized as it would in the homeland.

Money could also turn almost anyone.

It was General Glauca's involvement that confounded her. He was above such politics and followed her father.

Or, so the princess believed. The general could have gone rouge.

"I do not know, but I will find out." She promised.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"How bad is your leg?" Imperatrix inquired of Nyx, testing the weight of a dagger she'd retrieved from a fallen glaive.

"Not as bad as Libertus's." He muttered darkly, scoping out the area for hostiles. "I can fight if that's what you're worried about."

"Of course it is, we are wide open for an ambush here."

The extraction point Nyx had been directed to by his superior was dead center in the middle of a big commercial street. Cover was nonexistent with all the television screens illuminating the area.

Imperatrix would have ordered her soldiers to retreat to a more discrete location for an extraction. This didn't feel right...

"Don't jinx us." The glaive poked his head out, checking one more time for enemies before addressing Lunafreya. "Don't move until I say so, alright."

"I won't."

Imperatrix was next to be spoken to.

"Can I count on you to protect her?" Nyx's jaw clenched.

He took a risk in letting the imperial princess take that dagger. She hadn't stabbed him in the back or slit Lunafreya's throat. Maybe it was time to have a little faith...

"You may. I have a promise to keep to her brother." She dipped her in acknowledgment. "Be careful."

Nyx saluted her playfully and walked into the square.

"Imperatrix?"

"Yes?" The princess kept her focus on the glaive shouting for his captain.

"Thank you."

Imperatrix softened as Lunafreya touched the necklace she bought for her. The girl sagged now that the goal was in sight.

The oracle, for all her bluster, was still a young woman that was unaccustomed to the frontline harshness of war. She had pushed herself to keep up with the two veteran soldiers.

Her fortitude in light of the day's events was admirable.

A gunshot went off and Nyx crumpled to the ground.

The princess covered Lunafreya's mouth, muffling the girl's scream. Imperatrix couldn't make a move until the shooter entered her line of sight.

Luche advanced on Nyx, cocking his gun for a final shot.

"Listen to me!" Imperatrix shook the struggling oracle. "Go distract him and I will counter with a sneak attack."

Lunafreya was slow to respond and the princess urgently repeated her plan until the girl calmed down and bobbed her head in understanding.

"Go." She released the oracle and crouched down, removing her shoes for stealth.

Luche payed no attention to Imperatrix's approach. He continued kicking Nyx and gloating about how he killed a girl named Crowe.

Lunafreya couldn't stop the deranged man as he leveled the gun at her.

The princess hid behind a pillar and waited for an opening.

"Why'd you do it?!" Nyx howled.

"Because the Kingsglaive is nothing, an old man's battle fodder sent to die in Insomnia's war, while our homes are bound and shackled!" Luche spat.

The turncoat glaives must have struck a deal with someone from Niflheim, someone high up. They must've been offered land or clemency for staging a coup.

Her father abhorred disloyalty! He wouldn't have sanctioned such an arrangement.

The chancellor on the other hand, thrived in convoluted schemes and underhanded methods. Ardyn had to be behind this!

"Niflheim took your home!" Nyx argued, lifting his head when something moved behind a pillar. It was the princess creeping closer to Luche.

He was stunned and stole a glance at Lunafreya. She tilted her head marginally.

Imperatrix hadn't ditched them, she'd hidden herself!

Nyx couldn't blow her cover and went back to yelling. "They took all our homes! Nothing will ever change that!"

Imperatrix set aside her unease with his words. He may not have been directing his anger specifically at her, but it still felt like an attack.

"You never were too smart. You could've had a future with the empire." Luche's words confirmed the theory.

His predatory gaze fell on Lunafreya and the gun twitched.

Imperatrix struck. The dagger plunged multiple times into the traitor's chest and he wobbled in the princess's grasp.

Luche wailed, elbowing her off his back. "What the hell?! You're supposed to be dead! Can't anybody do their jobs around here?!"

"According to who?" Imperatrix twirled the dagger, intent on getting answers.

Nyx wouldn't mind her damaging the traitor since he'd killed his friend, Crowe.

Luche hunched over from the blood escaping his wounds.

"According to daddy-dearest!" His hand whipped upward, firing off a round.

Imperatrix evaded the shot, obtaining a graze on her arm instead of a hole in her chest and collapsed to the ground. The shooter turned tail and went after a weaker target, namely Lunafreya.

The reality of his words prevented the princess from giving chase.

"The traitor lies! Father would never…I am his daughter…" Imperatrix whispered to herself, hand hiding her anguished face from the world. "It's a lie…"

She was Iedolas's first-born, his precious jewel! The child he'd groomed for the throne since birth, in spite of grievances from his council.

As disappointed of her as he'd been in recent years, her father would not order her death!

"What're you doing?! Lunafreya's in danger!" Imperatrix jolted from Nyx's shout. "I thought I could count on you!"

She heard him and knew what needed to be done, but her legs wouldn't move and her eyes were blurry.

A car pulled up and Titus Drautos stepped out.

The princess got her head back in the game.

The man's approach was met with Imperatrix shakily wielding her dagger in defense of the glaive. Lunafreya could outrun a man bleeding to death. An enemy of his size and muscle would cut her and Nyx down, and then kill the oracle.

"Wait, that's Captain Drautos!"

"What if he is compromised too?" Imperatrix didn't ease her stance.

"He's not! Go after Lunafreya." The glaive implored.

"He is the bigger threat!"

Titus raised his eyebrow, stoically inspecting the pair frantically whispering to themselves.

"Princess Imperatrix, may I tend to my subordinate?" He raised his hands peacefully, demonstrating that he wasn't armed.

"Not a-"

Nyx grabbed her ankle, stopping her from making any sudden movements. Imperatrix grunted from her foot's scrap with cement, and reluctantly permitted the man to come closer.

"You're very protective of a Lucian for a Niff." Titus slowly approached the pair. "Strange, since I ordered him to take you hostage."

"He is wounded and abandoned, it would be heartless of me not to be defensive." She didn't drop her guard as the man kneeled next to Nyx.

"Noble to a fault..."

Another car sped into the square, but it didn't stop. Imperatrix fell onto her bottom to escape the vehicle ramming into Titus.

Nyx desperately called for his captain.

The car was flipped over and and in the man's place was General Glauca. Libertus crawled out of the wrecked vehicle, unacknowledged by the new enemy.

Nyx's heart stopped. The princess had been right.

"Your captain is the general... How is that possible?!" Imperatrix jumped to her feet.

A dagger was a butter knife in this instance!

"Better question is, how are you the only person I can trust at this point?!" Nyx fought to stand upright.

He was in too much pain to fight!

Lunafreya ran into the square, joining Nyx and Imperatrix. Imperial Airships flew over the square. Glauca readied for a blood bath.

"It's over. The daemons are unleashed, Lucis has fallen." The general pointed his blade at the group. "Surrender the ring!"

Imperatrix disregarded the order, issuing her own demand in turn. "Tell me, General. Did the emperor call for my death?!"

"The death of a beloved princess shall unify a splintered land." The truth hurt more than any of Imperatrix's wounds, even more than the intense stinging coming from her arm. "Fortune favors you, for your teacher has become the executioner."

The princess suddenly felt like she was a child once more.

She desired nothing more than to run from her fear and hide behind her parents. However, there would be no Iedolas or Valeria to chase away her aggressors and embrace her with loving promises of safety.

The dagger began to slip from Imperatrix's hold as she crumbled, accepted her fate of death.

"Didn't anyone tell you? I'm the _hero_ around here!" Nyx declared.

A barrier formed between Glauca and the group. A hand landed on Imperatrix's shoulder.

"I'll take it from here, Princess."

"You have magic again..."

The Ring of the Lucii glowed brilliantly on Nyx's finger.

"What have you done?" She mumbled, horrified at the red scarring on his that looked as if it was eating away at his skin.

What price had this man paid for the return of his magic?!

The barrier trembled in the wake of Glauca's strikes.

"Leave this to me." Nyx gently forced Imperatrix to the rear with Lunafreya.

The next strike was met with a stream of lighting from the glaive and the general went flying. Libertus dashed to Nyx.

"I could get used to this." The glaive bragged, facing the new arrival.

"Nyx, I'm sorry." Libertus bowed his head shamefully.

"Don't be, you saved me. Now, I owe you."

His friend may have turned traitor, but when it really counted his Galahdian brother had Nyx's back.

"For a change." Libertus snorted.

"Gonna need another favor, pal." Nyx jerked his head to the girls. "Meet Lunafreya and Imperatrix, both princesses with the future in the palm of their hands. Get'em out of Insomnia."

"What?!"

"Oh, almost forgot! Betcha need this." Nyx removed the ring and bequeathed it to the oracle. "Give Prince Noctis my regards."

"This sounds eerily like goodbye." Imperatrix took in the glaive, searing him into her mind. "Did I not tell you to live another day?"

Nyx Ulric had been betrayed, his city destroyed, sovereign murdered, and rendered helpless, but he stood tall and courageously through it all. Someone as virtuous as him was rare in their world.

It would be criminal to see him go.

"That bastard had it right... You really are noble to a fault." Nyx gave the princess a rueful smile. "Libertus will take care of you girls. Have a safe journey."

"The hell are you doing?!" Libertus objected. He wasn't on board with this plan or his friend's resigned tone.

"Following the king's orders."

"I will see the ring to Noctis. The future will be safe, I swear it." Lunafreya vowed, doing as Imperatrix taught her and honoring a person's last moments.

She would not avert her eyes. Nyx Ulric of the kingsglaive would live on in her memories.

Glauca finally rose from the ground. Libertus held out the missing kukri to Nyx.

"Planning on punching your way out of the city? Keep it." He slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Now we're even."

"We'll settle it once you're back in Galahd. Where everyone else will be waiting for you."

"I'm counting on you, _Hero_." Nyx saluted Libertus and left the three to face the general one last time.

Libertus guided Lunafreya to the car. Imperatrix indecisively looked between the car and Nyx.

She hated leaving a soldier behind.

"Let's go, Imperial Princess!"

She clicked her tongue in frustration, hastening to the car at the crescendo of the general and glaive's battle. The last thing Imperatrix saw as they drove off was Nyx's glowing figure.


	4. Chapter 4

"He will live, won't he?" Lunafreya asked for the fourth time.

She couldn't stop glancing back at Nyx.

Thanks to Gentiana's guidance they were able to locate the glaive and rescue him from the rubble. The oracle was ever so grateful for the messenger's assistance. Her deliverance of Nyx and Lunafreya's trusted dogs had lightened the girl's heart.

Pryna was cuddled up to the oracle while Umbra sat vigilante by Nyx's body.

"Yes, Lunafreya. He just needs a doctor." Imperatrix answered automatically, as she had been for the past hour.

The princess had been internally numb since leaving Insomnia and stealing an abandoned airship. Minor maintenance had restored the machine's flight capabilities and the females fled the city. Libertus drove on to Galahd at Lunafreya's insistence. They couldn't travel incognito with a known member of the kingsglaive.

That logic became hypocritical now that they had Nyx in their company.

"Why not try to sleep?" The princess offered to the antsy girl.

Lunafreya stubbornly shook her head and scratched Pryna's ears.

"I cannot. What if he…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Nyx Ulric will not die in his sleep. You needn't worry."

Imperatrix had bandaged and cleaned his wounds to best of her ability with the first-aid kit she found onboard.

The glowing cracks along Nyx's face had deepened and his leg was most likely fractured. The burns along the glaive's arm and the bullet wound in his side were the most concerning injuries. They could get infected, but that would take days to happen.

"I pray he lives. He deserves that for everything he did. "

"Sleep, child. You cannot even keep your head upright."

"You are not that much older." Lunafreya retorted, rubbing her eyes to the relieve the burn of fatigue.

"Old enough to recognize when it is someone's bedtime. Do you require me to tuck you in?" Imperatrix input coordinates and switched the controls to auto.

"I have not needed those since I was a babe."

"I could recite _The Hexatheon_ for you? Or would you prefer _The Oracle_? I know they are your favorites." She proceeded to tease the pouting girl.

"How do you know I like those stories?"

"Ravus told me. He used to read them to you whenever you had nightmares, yes?."

Lunafreya hugged Pryna closer. "He told you that?"

"That and many other things, as a doting sibling would." The princess sighed, humor gone. "Rest. I will watch Ulric."

"You will wake me if anything changes?" The oracle had been mellowed by the mention of Ravus. She didn't know the fate of her brother.

Had he escaped the city? Would he come looking for her?

"I will."

"Then…a little rest will not hurt." Lunafreya slumped in the her seat, warmed by Pryna's body heat. The soft rising and falling of the dog's body hypnotized her into a light doze.

"Did not take long." Imperatrix muttered.

With the oracle gone into the land of dreams, she deflated. The role of princess and soldier crumpled.

The princess was as lost and afraid as a child.

The emperor had sanctioned her death...

Her father gave leave for her to die!

The notion didn't sit well with Imperatrix. She had faithfully served him, strived to meet his expectations, and never doubted him. She had loved and admired him as any child would for their parent.

How could he toss her away like this? Did twenty-eight years of nurturing mean nothing to him?!

Was she not worthy of being his daughter anymore?

A low whine caught Imperatrix's attention.

"What is the matter? Unfortunately, I have no treats." The princess blinked back tears. Umbra whined again and licked her hand. "Y-You are comforting me?"

The ebony dog placed its paws on her lap, stretching its neck to lick away the princess's tears. She melted at the show of affection.

Canines were attuned to the pain of others. She could understand why Pryna and Umbra were Lunafreya's greatest companions.

"Did the puppy I bought for Furia make it out of the city..." She mumbled to no one.

If it did, would her father give it and the other gifts to the princesses as final mementos of her? Would he look upon the red dragon pin she'd purchased for him with regret?

Umbra's golden eyes begged Imperatrix not to let the pain shatter her. The world would go on and so would the imperial princess.

"Thank you." She scratched him behind the ears and smiled at his rumble of delight. Somehow the princess knew what the dog was trying to express. "I will not lose sight of myself, that I promise."

Satisfied that her mood was stable, Umbra returned to his position of watchdog. This time he kept his head angled with both Nyx and Imperatrix in sight.

The protectiveness of the dog amused the princess. It could give her attendants a run for their money.

"Nebula and Tempesta…I hope they are safe."

On one hand, Imperatrix was relieved that they had been on missions and were unable to accompany her to Insomnia. On another hand, she wished they were with her, providing comfort and familiarity with their abrasive mannerisms.

"Distraction. I need a distraction."

The cracked phone mocked her. It had no service and the battery would soon die.

The princess couldn't contact anyone via text or call. All she could do was flip through the dozens of photos stored on the phone, broken and fragmented as they were.

Imperatrix's gaze lingered on a shot of the Aldercapt daughters.

Furia, the second princess and wildcat of the family. Marriage had tempered much of her unruly behavior, but she could still be a menace when she wanted.

Euphemia, the third princess and the free-spirit of the family. Less kind individuals called her an airhead, but she simply had an imagination that she got lost in.

Venus, the fourth princess and the shyest of them all. She was often the black sheep on account of their father suddenly showing up with the girl and announcing that Venus was kin to the royal princesses.

The girls were posing at Furia's wedding. It was the last time the four sisters had been together at the same time.

The bride stood out the most in her extravagant dress, strawberry-blonde hair, and forest-green eyes.

While the second and third princesses were full-siblings, Euphemia shared more features with Imperatrix, to the exclusion of her green eyes and lighter skin tone. Venus didn't stand out much with her brown hair and eyes, a wallflower, but she did posses their father's nose.

The princesses were not princes, but none of the courtiers could complain that they weren't jewels meant to be marveled at.

"They think me dead…they will be so devastated…" Imperatrix buried her face in her hands. "The line of succession will be disrupted! Euphemia will be heir, with Venus next in line… They are so young and innocent. I did not want the burden of ruling on their shoulders!"

The frantic muttering continued until Umbra barked loudly.

Lunafreya didn't rouse from the noise. She was dead to the world. Pryna lifted her ear, but didn't move from her mistress's lap. Another bark snapped Imperatrix out of her trance.

"What is wrong?" She kneeled in front of the dog.

He nudged her towards Nyx.

The princess investigated him. His wounds weren't bleeding through the bandages. Imperatrix called for the glaive, but he was unresponsive.

"There is nothing wrong with him." Umbra sniffed and pushed her hand closer to Nyx's face. "He's not bleeding!"

He whined and forced Imperatrix's hand against the glaive's cheek. She gasped and moved her hand to Nyx's forehead, finding that it was hotter than normal.

"A fever?! How, when his wounds are not infected?!" The princess unwrapped the glaive's arm and found the coloring to be normal for burns. The same was found underneath the bandage on his face and around his hip.

This was a dilemma.

The airship lacked sufficient medication for a rising fever. Imperatrix was lucky to find the first-aid kit on a craft designed for magitek soldiers and not human passengers.

"Not good, not good!" She sat back in the pilot's seat and checked the distance to Longwythe.

At their present course it would take five hours to reach the rest point. Nyx's condition could get critical in that time frame.

The princess would have to take control again.

The ship jerked from the acceleration. At full speed they would make the trip in two hours, but the airship's core would take hours to cool.

"Money is needed for a doctor and supplies..." Imperatrix groaned.

Much of her cash had been spent in Insomnia.

The holster-bag on her thigh barely contained six-thousand gil and Insomnian currency was useless outside the wall. Nyx's medical bill alone would cost twice what she possessed.

Umbra circled the glaive worriedly.

"Maybe…there will be hunts posted in the city..." She tried to reassure herself and the dog.

Umbra yipped.

Imperatrix looked over her shoulder at Nyx. His face was sweaty and red. He was beginning to spasm.

The glaive's fever wasn't natural. She needed a plan.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"W-We finally made it." Imperatrix greedily inhaled air, seconds away from collapsing where she stood.

Her arms, legs, feet, and lungs burned as hotly as Ifrit's flames.

The oracle and princess had placed the prone Nyx on a tactical shield found in the hangar and carried him all the way from the ship to the outpost of Longwythe.

An imperial ship descending on the town might not endear the citizens to them, especially when one of its occupants was the daughter of the man that invaded their kingdom. Imperatrix had erred on the side of caution and landed their transportation a safe distance away where it wouldn't be spotted.

The dogs were the only ones unfazed by the great distance they'd traversed. Pryna and Umbra pranced around the filth-ridden girls, barking encouragingly anytime they looked on the verge of fainting.

"N-Next, we find a doctor..." Imperatrix swayed as she stepped forward, vision going black for a split second.

"I-I will find one. You look very faint..." Lunafreya wiped the moisture from her face and observed her unlikely companion. The princess wasn't drenched in sweat as she was, but Imperatrix had been shaking and losing focus more often. "Did you rest at all?"

The oracle was angry to not been woken after Nyx's condition changed, but she understood the princess's reasoning for it.

She would have spent the whole ride willing her powers to heal the glaive uselessly. The oracle's healing was meant for curing Starscourge. Exhaustion and frustration would have been the result of that endeavor. Being rested and clear-headed was for the best.

"I am used to little sleep. Do not mind me." The consolation rang hollow as Imperatrix tilted again and nearly lost her grip on the shield.

Lunafreya forced them to a halt. "You are dehydrated, wounded, and exhausted. You are far from fine!"

The princess blinked slowly. For a moment the girl was replaced with the looming figure of Nebula. It was his heavy frown she saw and his deep drawl she heard.

"Stop being a little imp! Sit down, Impera."

"I am fine…"

Her attendant vanished with a tsk and Lunafreya was in front of her, yanking the shield out of her grasp. The oracle struggled to drag it to a nearby bench.

"Please sit."

Imperatrix gave up and did as asked.

Nyx was laid gently down by the princess's feet. The dogs whined and licked at his overheated face. His moans of pain were getting louder.

"Hurry Lunafreya. His condition is worsening..." She pointed to a motel across from them. "See if they know a local doctor."

The oracle nodded and hurried off with Pryna. Umbra sat on Imperatrix's other side, guarding the two weakened members of the party.

"You are very...precautious, aren't you?"

Umbra tilted his head and his image was replaced with Tempesta crouching and scowling viciously at her.

"I gotta be with such a dumb princess." She snarled. "What have we said about working yourself to the bone?!"

"T-Tempesta?" Imperatrix's mind was playing tricks.

She must be severely dehydrated.

"Who the hell else calls you on your shit? Not Neb, he's too lazy."

The princess reached for the seething girl. She vanished and Imperatrix fell to the ground. Umbra barked and pressed his nose against her cheek.

A few people passed by, whispering about the collapsed woman and man. No one dared approach with the growling dog pacing around the two. The onlookers assumed the two were refugees from Insomnia.

It was all over the news how the city fell after Emperor Iedolas took revenge for the murder of his daughter and breaking of the peace treaty. Many weren't sure how to take the onslaught of slander against the Lucis king.

Regis proved to be a just ruler, but he had turned his back on the outer regions for years, in the end selling them out.

Who was to say he wouldn't try murdering the imperial family when they were in his grasp?

"U-Umbra stop barking…I'm fine…" Imperatrix slurred, sitting up straight.

The dog rushed to her, wildly licking her face. She rubbed his back.

"What is this?"

The princess scrutinized the odd harness on Umbra's back. There was a red book attached to it this time. The same book she saw Lunafreya reading with a tender smile.

"This must be her favorite book in the world." Imperatrix laughed, finding it absurd that the oracle strapped a book to her dog's back.

Umbra yipped in agreement.

"Your master has strange habits."

This time the dog's bark was aggressive and he butted his head against her shoulder.

"Did I offend you?"

He sniffed pretentiously.

"My apologies, Sir Umbra."

Arguing with a dog was ridiculous.

The bystander's muttering became more concerned.

Who was the girl talking too? Was it the dog?

Imperatrix looked up, sighing as the strangers became Nebula and Tempesta. The duo could pass as twins with their sunshine locks, freckles, and baby-blue eyes.

The princess knew better.

They were related in a sense, just not in the way most would think. For simplicity's sake they introduced themselves as siblings to the world.

"Man, she looks ragged. Good thing no one's here to see her." Nebula adopted a lazy slouch, mussing his long, tied-back hair. "This is what happens when I'm not around."

Tempesta punched him.

"Please, your presence doesn't matter! It's me that keeps the ball rolling. Watch this." She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled. "Up on your feet, Shitty Princess!"

Imperatrix jerked, scaring Lunafreya and making her fall onto the ground. The princess frantically looked for the grumpy siblings, but found them nowhere in sight.

"Are you alright?" The oracle reached out, but then thought better of touching the distressed woman.

"Back so soon? Did you find a doctor?" She avoided answering and caressed her head.

"I have…been gone for an hour…" Lunafreya was very worried.

Was Imperatrix falling ill as well?

"What? Not possible…I just saw you…" The princess trailed off.

Her mind wasn't in the right place.

Lunafreya gave her a watery smile. "Do not worry. I have taken care of things."

An elderly man came closer with a wheeled stretcher. He introduced himself as Alfred and together with Lunafreya, lifted Nyx onto the stretcher. The females and dogs followed the doctor to his small clinic.

Before they went in, Alfred requested that Pryna and Umbra remain outside for sanitary purposes. The canines whined about the arrangement but laid submissively at the entrance with one stern look from their mistress.

Nyx's preliminary examination passed in silence after Lunafreya and Imperatrix were unable to provide simple information about their companion's health information. Luckily, the glaive had his wallet on him and the doctor got the necessary information from it. Alfred then immediately got to work on lowering Nyx's illogical fever.

"So, how are you girls going to pay for this? I'm assuming from the way you're dressed money's nonexistent."

Imperatrix swallowed. "I have gil. How much will it cost?"

"Thirty-thousand gil for me to fix him up with what I've got, but he needs to go to a real hospital to get skin grafts for his arm."

The princess almost groaned.

In normal circumstances thirty-thousand gil could be easily paid by the crown princess. Even when she had been occasionally stranded or without cash, the princess could refer whoever it was to seek payment from the palace. They had systems in place for this.

But Imperatrix had been reduced to a vagrant and she looked the part too. The princess felt humiliated from her current situation.

"I can provide six-thousand as a down payment and the rest I will acquire from hunts." She bartered with little hope the doctor would accept her proposal.

The woman was out of options.

Lunafreya appeared aghast at her suggestion and Alfred sported a similar expression.

"Pardon me, Miss, but you look close to passing out. And all the hunts in town combined wouldn't cover the remainder." The doctor softly rebuffed Imperatrix.

She sagged, dispirited by being proven right. How pathetic she'd become.

"Please sir, there must be an arrangement that can be made." Lunafreya interceded.

"I'm not insensitive to your situation. I've heard what happened in Insomnia." Alfred sighed, wrinkles becoming abundant on his forehead. "But I can't use my limited supplies frivolously. There'll be hundreds more coming that need help."

Imperatrix turned her head.

The doctor's words made sense. She couldn't fault him for his caution.

Nyx's weak form tugged at her conscience and the princess made a decision. "Will you accept a valuable item as payment?"

"What kind of item?" The doctor's interest was piqued.

Imperatrix touched the glittering gem cooling her forehead with its soft touch.

The diadem had remained in place throughout the chaos. She was loathe to part with it, for it wasn't a regular piece of jewelry. While not the actual crown she used in state-affairs, this diadem was the one she wore in minor or foreign formal-affairs.

The headpiece was a symbol of her right to one day rule. It had been passed down from princess to princess.

This small-town doctor had no idea what she was offering him. Crown jewels were worth a fortune. Sold to the right person, Alfred could live in luxury for decades.

"I offer this." Imperatrix removed the diadem from her head.

"Oh, my!" The doctor failed to hide his yearning for the item.

"Imp-" Lunafreya went silent after receiving a sharp look from the princess. "Surely my jewelry would suffice." She tried again.

The oracle knew what those jewels were and she was overwhelmed that Imperatrix would give them up.

Her earrings and bracelets were ornate and could be traded. She would even offer her gifted necklace if needed.

"No, yours alone won't do. You two require aid as well. Snow White here is covered in bruises and her arm's bleeding." Alfred took his eyes off the diadem to survey Imperatrix's colorful splotches of red and purple.

Her ripped dress hid little and told the story of her night.

"Let me amend my statement, Dr. Alfred." The princess interrupted Lunafreya's pleas. "I will give my diadem in exchange for coverage of all our expenses and prescriptions."

When Alfred began laughing Imperatrix hardened her nerves and defended her claim.

"This is no ordinary headpiece. You could sell this to a jeweler and live like a king."

"I'm well aware of the value of that thing, Princess Imperatrix. I'm laughing because you barely asked for anything." He waved her off genially. "Guess I'm also laughing because a supposedly _dead_ _princess_ is in my clinic!"

Imperatrix was taken off guard.

"You knew?" Then she registered his address of her. "You know who I am, and still, you help?"

Longwythe was Lucis territory. The imperial princess at worst anticipated conflict, were her identity to be exposed.

"I'm a doctor and I've got an oath to keep. I make no distinction when it comes to patients. Though, the imperial princess, the oracle, and a member of Kingsglaive is an odd bunch."

"Your integrity is very welcome." The princess felt relieved that the diadem at least was going to an honest man.

With that settled she held the item out for him to take.

"Oh no, I can't take that!" Alfred refused the offered item. "I only agreed in the first place to get the measure of you."

She shook her head. "You said it yourself, you cannot distribute supplies frivolously. My station does not exempt me from paying."

"You won't take no for an answer, will you?"

"I will not! I want you to take it so that when hundreds swarm your clinic, you will have the means to help them."

"Princess Imperatrix…" Floored at the generosity of the princess, Alfred stood up and reverently accepted the payment. "This will be used wisely. I'm too old to be buying useless things anyway."

He excused himself to put the treasure away. The doctor began compiling an ointment for Nyx's burns and a brace for his leg.

Imperatrix sank onto the bed next to Nyx's. She was very tempted to lay back and rest, but her grumbling stomach vetoed that desire.

Obtaining food and lodging was the next priority.

"I find myself immensely stunned that you gave up crown jewels to save the life of a man that was your enemy a day ago." Lunafreya lowered her eyes. Shame ate at her. "My opinion of you has greatly been called into question these last few days."

"Trinkets can be replaced, lives cannot. Nyx Ulric fought and protected us. My conscience would not allow me to repay those efforts with callousness." Imperatrix didn't acknowledge the oracle's attack on her character with anger. She was too tired. "I will not turn my back on anyone that needs help..."

"I am beginning...to truly see that."

Alfred reappeared with a cart of reeking bottles and refreshments.

He offered water to the girls before starting on Nyx's hip, digging out the shrapnel with meticulous precision that was impressive for a man his age. The glaive barely moved from the work due to the strong pain reliever he was given earlier.

The arm required its own process of Alfred disinfecting it, applying creams, and then wrapping the arm in gauze. He explained that this needed to be repeated daily over the next three weeks until they got the skin grafts.

The knee brace followed and was attached. The doctor advised it stay on at least for two weeks and might possibly be needed on a longer basis if Nyx found it too painful to walk without it.

As Imperatrix thought, the webbing along Nyx's face would scar. That was the final injury.

Alfred stated that potions were to be used on Nyx only in an absolute emergency. His body needed to heal naturally, chiefly due to the differing healing rates between the burns and bones. A potion might cause the bone to heal in an incorrect position.

Nyx's fever had stabilized as well and the man was finally out of critical danger.

"Alright, who's next?" Alfred washed his hands and then dried them off.

"Lunafreya." Imperatrix decided.

The oracle clearly wasn't happy that she was getting checked first when her injuries were minor.

"All done, Yellow Daffodil." The doctor patted Lunafreya's arm kindly and rolled to Imperatrix's bedside. "Lift up that arm, Snow White."

"You have the strangest sense of nicknaming..." She gave him her arm.

"It's a talent of mine." Alfred paused, shifting closer to inspect the arm. "You've got a bit of shrapnel in here. Explains why you're a bit peakish."

"How is that possible? I dodged the bullet!"

"Don't know, artillery isn't my specialty." He rolled towards a desk and took out a bottle. "Take this first."

A cup of pills were given to the princess. She gulped them down with her water.

A fever explained why Nebula and Tempesta had appeared before her.

"Lay back, this is going to hurt."

"Lovely." Imperatrix slowed her breathing, preparing herself for the uncomfortable feeling of tweezers penetrating her skin. She startled when a hand wrapped around her own. "Luna…freya?"

The oracle smiled and squeezed her hand. "Allow me to offer my support."

"Good, good. She'll need something to brace herself with. Try not to move too much."

The princess exhaled and closed her eyes. "Get on with it..."

Alfred got to work on Imperatrix's arm. She ground her teeth and groaned from the painful intrusion. Lunafreya uttered no complaint to her hand being squeezed repeatedly, lightly humming to soothe her companion.

The oracle proceeded to hum even after the doctor concluded and scolded Imperatrix upon glimpsing her desecrated feet.

She had been running around barefoot since Insomnia...

"You girls go get some clothes and food now. The oracle and princess shouldn't be looking so tattered!" Alfred ushered them out of his clinic.

Nyx wouldn't awaken for a day or two and was in safe hands.

"Go see my daughter, Victoria. She runs a clothes store."

Lunafreya and Imperatrix left, finding the mentioned store.

Alfred's daughter and her husband greeted them enthusiastically. The doctor had called Victoria and Robin, telling them exactly who to expect.

The couple tore through the store to find clothing suitable for two princesses.

A dress of white with lace sleeves, white sandals, and a silver coat for colder weather were chosen for Lunafreya. Black leggings, a red blouse, combat boots, and a white jacket were chosen for Imperatrix.

Victoria had tried to convince the princess to buy a white and red dress, but she would require easy maneuverability and had to turn down the selection. Sleepwear and underclothing were added to the pile and a generous discount provided.

"You are essentially giving this to me for free." Imperatrix opposed the measly one-thousand gil Victoria asked for.

She'd seen the tags, it should've cost around two-thousand and five-hundred gil.

"No, no. I charged you, so it's not free." Victoria wagged her finger. Her father warned her of this happening. "Go ahead and bag it, Robin."

"Sure, honey." The husband agreed easily.

"That'll be one-thousand gil, please!"

Imperatrix handed over the money. She wouldn't fight when they could use the gil.

"Come back sometime!" Victoria said.

She and her husband waved goodbye to the girls.

Onward to the motel they went.

A room with two beds was purchased, leaving the princess with three-thousand and six-hundred gil.

Enough for food.

"Imperatrix, a shower might help if you persist in staying awake." Lunafreya made herself comfortable on the floor with her dogs instead of dirtying the bed in her current state.

"I will rest after we have eaten. I won't be able to sleep with my stomach's current racket..." She quipped, feeling marginally better.

Her stomach growled right on cue.

Lunafreya giggled at the loud noise. "Lunch and then you must rest."

Imperatrix grabbed her new clothes and entered the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later she exited a cleaned and renewed woman. Her dress was tossed onto the floor.

A waste how it turned out...

"Did you let Umbra out?" She asked, drying off her dripping hair.

The princess was happy it returned to its natural state after vigorously scrubbing out the dirt, blood, and soot.

Pryna was on the ground with Lunafreya, but her ebony twin was gone.

"Yes, he will not be back for some time..." A look of wistfulness crossed the oracle's face.

The princess could tell there was more to that statement.

"I will be quick." She slipped into the bathroom, leaving Imperatrix with Pryna.

The dog lifted its head, judging the princess and finding her uninteresting. Her tail wagged lazily and she returned to a relaxed position.

For some reason Imperatrix felt insulted. "No, I am imaging things again."

There was no way a dog just gave her attitude.

It didn't take long for Lunafreya to walk out in her new dress.

"You look so much younger in that..." The princess remarked.

The oracle wasn't sure if she was being complimented or picked on.

"Nevermind. To the diner."

No use in dwelling on the fragile lifespan of innocence. Lunafreya would never go back to the blissful life she knew in Tenebrae and Impertrix couldn't feel guilty over that.

The diner had few occupants inside, but it still managed to be quite noisy. The girls got a booth nearest to the door.

The menu didn't boast much variety. Lunafreya settled on an order of salmon and Imperatrix chose the largest batch of french fries she could get. The waiter gave the princess a funny look for that. The house blend was their drink of choice.

Once the items were delivered, Lunafreya gaped at the greasy food before them.

"Not the fine dining of royalty, but it is good." Imperatrix guaranteed, drowning her fries in ketchup.

"You have...eaten this before?" The oracle cut her salmon into smaller pieces.

"Yes, french fries are a guilty pleasure of mine." The princess held out a fry with her fork. "Try it. I couldn't get enough my first time."

"I cannot see you eating in an establishment like this by choice." The oracle uncertainly took the offering.

"I ate at places like this in between missions. Mostly, because my attendants love unhealthy food."

"Oh, my." Imperatrix grinned at the exuberant shock on Lunafreya's face. "It is good!"

"I will not steer you wrong."

"I wonder if Pryna would like it." The girl looked out the window.

Her dog was sitting outside like a sentinel.

"You cannot feed this to her, she will get sick."

"Why would she? Pryna and Umbra ate from the kitchen at home and were never ill."

"Your chefs do not cook the food in absurd amounts of grease and fat. Any of this will have your friends emptying their stomachs."

Lunafreya chewed her food pensively. "I suppose I will have to take your word for it."

Imperatrix rubbed her temples.

Was the oracle really naive enough to feed her dogs junk food?

An announcement on the radio silenced the girl's conversation. It was an address mourning the deaths of the Imperatrix, Lunafreya, and all the other souls lost in the fall of Insomnia.

The oracle schooled her features into a visage of indifference and looked out the window. The princess didn't allow the girl's sudden defensiveness to bother her.

She was back to being the enemy for the time being.

A couple days of cooperation wouldn't erase the divide between the imperial princess and the oracle.


	5. Chapter 5

"I thought Lunafreya was pulling my leg when she clarified I'm alive thanks to you."

Imperatrix looked up from her place on the ledge in front of their motel room.

Nyx was using the oracle as a support system while he shakily stood.

He appeared much healthier. The scarring on his face had closed up, leaving pink marks all over. The hospital garb had been replaced with a short-sleeved shirt and faded jeans.

"Nyx Ulric, it is good to see you awake and on your feet." The princess smiled good-naturedly.

She and Lunafreya waited two weeks for him to rejoin the land of the living.

The oracle had spent most that time by Nyx's bedside, singing and praying for him in lulls between helping Alfred at the clinic when other refugees arrived, and keeping tabs on the princess in case of a fever. Luckily, Imperatrix hadn't developed the illness the glaive had from the odd bullet.

The princess spent the reprieve gathering materials for Alfred's clinic, which led to the local hunters asking for her help with tougher jobs since she managed well enough on her own in the wild. The money she acquired from those hunts allowed her to purchase a simple sword and parts for the airship to get it through a few more days before the core gave out from the damage sustained in the fall.

The shabby weapon was nothing compared to her Aurora Borealis, but it would cut down monsters.

"I'm barely on my feet." Nyx corrected. "How am I even alive? Those old-bags demanded my life."

"I do not know what you mean." Imperatrix flicked her eyes to Lunafreya for clarification.

The oracle was the knowledgable one on the ring.

"We should speak inside." The girl replied with an air of seriousness.

Imperatrix stood, retrieving the keys from her pockets and opening the door for the duo.

"Wow. Being invited into the private room of the princess's, aren't I lucky?" Nyx teased, lazily grinning at the woman stepping back to let him enter.

"Very lucky. How unfortunate your body is too broken to do anything of substance." The princess countered dryly. She helped Lunafreya set the glaive down on one of the beds.

He whistled appreciatively. "You've got a sense of humor."

Lunafreya tilted her head and ran her knuckles over Pryna's head as the dog ran around her. "There is nothing special about our room. You need not feel overly fortunate."

Imperatrix coughed to hide her laugh.

The pure-minded girl wouldn't be catching onto the undertones of Nyx's jokes anytime soon.

So sheltered. It reminded her a little of Euphemia.

The third princess never understood when courtiers were flirting either, it went right over her head.

"I see you girls made this place home." Nyx regarded the piles of clothes and supplies with mirth.

Even outside their royal palaces, the girls still acted like princesses. Everything was so organized and neat, different from his apartment that was littered with tossed-about clothes and takeout.

"Explain what you meant earlier, Sir Ulric." Imperatrix steered the conversation back on track before she could think too hard about how true the glaive's statement was.

A motel room was not meant to be her home.

"I've been bumped up from _Glaive_ to _Sir Ulric_?" He rubbed at his chin. Stubble had gathered. "Should I return the favor and call you _Imperatrix,_ with no titles?"

"You earned my respect in battle." She would give leave for him to address her informally if he so chose. "Now, please stop getting sidetracked."

"Right, right. When I put the ring on, the Kings of Old required a life for their power. I offered mine." Nyx touched his bandaged arm. He could still feel tingles of pain despite the medication he was on.

For the life of him he would never forget the feeling of burning blue flames.

"I should've died at dawn."

Lunafreya touched Nyx's uninjured shoulder, smiling kindly in the face of his melancholy.

Imperatrix knew the cost of such extraordinary feats of magic were high. She still had trouble believing the giant statues that had defended Insomnia were real.

The Kings and Queens of Lucis had demolished Besithia's prized Diamond Weapon and multitudes of demons. The titanic battle seemed more a figment of the princess's imagination, but Lunafreya's multiple recounts of the night assured Imperatrix that the events were real and no dream.

"Perhaps destiny has alternative use for you, Nyx Ulric." The oracle surmised, gazing at something the others couldn't see.

Lunafreya had no answer for the glaive's miraculous survival. Would the answers come to her in a dream?

"Not sure if I like the sound of that." He'd had enough of higher powers deciding his fate.

Nyx would carve his own path now.

"Or you misunderstood their stipulation." Imperatrix crossed her arms and sat on the other bed.

Her mind whirled.

It would be a waste if Nyx erratically died because they didn't get to the bottom of the deal struck between him and the kings.

"How could I have misunderstood?" He glowered at her.

"Suppose they meant _life_ in a metaphorical sense." She patiently met his gaze. "Can you still use magic?"

Nyx's was about to retort, but stopped to consider what the princess asked. Could he still access the king's magic?

He closed his eyes, reaching for the thrum associated with his magic. Sometimes it felt like tingles, that was the lightning. Fire felt like burning. Ice felt like trembling. He could feel none of those things.

The glaive deeply inhaled and exhaled, trying harder to reach within.

"I can't…" Nyx gave up after registering the emptiness festering inside him.

He felt so empty, like a part of him had been ripped away. This was a million times worse than the emptiness he experienced the first time he lost his magic.

"It's gone…like it was never _there_."

Imperatrix nodded sadly at the man scratching at his chest, searching for something that wasn't there. The conclusion she'd come to might be the answer. "I have read many stories featuring gods and mythical figures. Their words often _symbolize_ something."

Lunafreya picked up on her line of thinking. "You believe the Lucii meant his life as _Kingsglaive_ was forfeit?"

"Yes, if you think about it, they took something more precious than Ulric's life-force."

"What could be more precious than life itself? Our lives are so fleeting, every moment should be cherished."

Interesting that the oracle sounded appalled when she'd been so careless with her own life in Insomnia.

"For someone like Nyx Ulric, his ability to protect those in need is more dear. A soldier's career is measured in lives saved." Imperatrix could empathize with the glaive. Being rendered permanently helpless was a hard blow for an exalted fighter. "Magic comprised the Kingsglaive and as we saw, without it the members are lost. Add on to that, Nyx is all but crippled from injuries. His days as _The Hero_ are over."

The glaive lowered his head, sagging in defeat. The princess was right. His arm and leg would never function the same.

From the right side he would eternally be disfigured and for a fighter that could be the tipping point in a battle. Nyx Ulric, _The Hero of Kingsglaive_ was dead.

What else was left if that identity was gone?

"I don't believe that. Magic does not define him!" Lunafreya argued, standing in front of Nyx until he looked up. "Not all miracles are made by magic. You and Imperatrix kept me safe without it."

The glaive snorted, unmoved.

"Do not be too pessimistic. The rest of the world has survived without the crystal's power." The princess chastised the older man sulking like a child. "You strike me capable enough to adapt."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Nyx wanted to move on from his predicament. "What're your plans, Imperatrix?"

He hadn't forgotten how devastated she looked after hearing her own death warrant.

Desperate people could end up doing crazy things. The glaive was immensely grateful for the help, but he wouldn't overlook the fact Imperatrix was an imperial.

The princess twirled her foot in a continuous circle, stalling for time. Lunafreya had asked the same and been told to wait until Nyx's condition stabilized for them to have a discussion.

Imperatrix could no longer avoid the topic.

"I…do not know. Seeing you two to safety was the end of my plans…" The princess wavered, her forced air of calm collapsed.

Her father wanted her dead...

She couldn't return home.

Fleeing to her uncle or Furia was another course of action, but she didn't wish to risk their safety by harboring her. The next course of action was to go into hiding, but her face was too well known. There weren't many places she could disappear.

Truly, Imperatrix didn't know how to proceed and with her phone out of commission, contacting Nebula or Tempesta was difficult.

"That threw me off…I thought you would announce we were off to a Niff camp for prisoners." Nyx laid back on the bed, fatigued from walking and keeping himself upright.

The road to recovery was going to be long.

"I am not a cruel person and I would appreciate it if the assumptions of so, would stop." She glared at him.

What more would it take for a little bit more trust?

"I could have turned both of you over, but I chose not to."

"Sorry, sorry. Force of habit." The glaive waved apologetically. "I shouldn't antagonize the woman responsible for saving my ass."

So he didn't have to worry about underhanded tactics with her. Silly princess was too honorable it seemed.

What a relief.

"Not unless you wish for _her_ to put you back in the grave."

"You're very feisty for a Niff-" He corrected himself after being given another displeased scowl. " _Nephilim_. Most I've encountered have been cold as ice or full of it."

"That is the majority, but the rest of us can be pleasant on occasion."

Nyx laughed and then winced from the pain caused from the motion. The laughter turned into wheezing.

He never wanted to get shot again, especially not by some exploding bullet like Luche used. Freaking bastard!

Lunafreya took a seat next to the princess and solemnly folded her hands. "I have an offer to make, Imperatrix."

"I am listeningt." She humored the oracle.

"Come with me to Altissa."

The room went silent.

Nyx's jaw dropped and Imperatrix eyed the oracle critically, determining the level of truthfulness of the request.

"What are you saying? You and I were only allies of circumstance." The princess broke her scrutiny. Those harmless orbs held no lie. "I will not help you bring down the empire."

Imperatrix knew that was the oracle's darkest desire and one shared by many.

No matter how far she'd fallen or would fall, the princess would never, ever, turn on her country or her monarch.

"Can you not see how corrupt Emperor Iedolas has become? He cares more about power than you." Lunafreya pushed for the princess to see reason.

Imperatrix hunched forward, covering her face with her hands. "Stop."

She would not be disloyal, that was not how she'd been raised.

"He destroyed a city and hundreds of lives for a crystal he cannot reap the benefits from. He has plundered and ravaged lands to expand his reach."

"Stop it…"

"You do not matter to Emperor Iedolas, only power and prestige do." The oracle pressed on in spite of Imperatrix's protests and trembling. "Hail to his glory, for he shall be our ruin!"

"What would you have me do then, _Great Oracle_?!" The princess leapt off the bed, barely holding back her wails of distress.

All her doubts and fears were being ruthlessly thrown in her face. How did Ravus put up with these unwarranted attacks?

"Commit patricide and slay an anointed emperor? Will that fix all the problems in Eos?!" Imperatrix didn't need a stranger to tell her how the emperor had changed over the years.

She'd seen it first hand how her father's kindness had blackened.

When once he'd been content with the land already populating the empire, he grew paranoid about the Lucians regaining their strength and turning their magic on Niflheim, seeking methods to even the scales.

Since their soldiers were easily disposed, Iedolas replaced them with magitek fighters to conserve the blood being spilt, but that avenue grew out of hand...

Surrounding himself with machines caused her father to develop a new level of disregard for human life and he was crossing lines he shouldn't.

The princess had seen the changes…

Imperatrix hated herself for not doing more to prevent them, but she was an obedient daughter first and foremost. There were only so many objections she could make without drawing her father's ire.

"That is not what I'm asking." Lunafreya tenderly removed Imperatrix's hands from her face and held onto them so the woman could not bury her face in them.

"Then...what?"

"Do as King Regis bade, work towards peace. Help me fulfill that wish. There are far more important things at play."

The king had seen something that Lunafreya hadn't. Who was she to deny his wisdom?

"Peace? Patricide would be simpler." The princess shrugged helplessly. "Prince Noctis will rightfully hate Niflheim for the travesty of Insomnia."

"It will not be easy. No worthy deed ever is." The oracle squeezed the woman's hands. They were rough compared to Lunafreya's dainty ones. "Start rectifying your country's mistakes. Help Noctis take his place as the _Chosen King_."

"I feel as though you speak of something else, but that can wait…" She sighed. "You have given me much to consider."

"You are not the only one who must decide." Lunafreya smiled at Nyx.

"Even in death King Regis is still giving me orders." It was his turn to sigh. "I'm not much use to you like this, Lunafreya."

"Destiny had no plans for either of you, but our fates have become entwined. I have faith that you will both stay the course." Nyx and Imperatrix were struck by Lunafreya's otherworldly oration.

This was the power of the oracle, inspiring hope and redemption in those that were lost.

The roar of the glaive's stomach shattered the magical moment. He scratched his chin unapologetically at the girl's bewildered looks.

"Don't look at me all shocked. I literally haven't eaten in days."

"You were hooked up to IVs that fed you." Imperatrix jested. "Alfred bathed and clothed you as well."

Nyx shivered. He knew it was the doctor's job, but it still made him uncomfortable to be touched while he was unconscious. "Don't remind me."

Alfred had tried to help him bathe before he left the clinic, but Nyx wouldn't let the guy near him, protesting that he could do all that now that he was awake. It took Lunafreya distracting the old man with an inane question to let the matter go.

"I will get us something from the diner since Nyx looks so comfortable." Lunafreya offered, already at the door with Pryna at her heel. "Is fish agreeable?"

"I've got no complaints." The glaive relaxed further on the bed, relishing the shift in roles.

He was being waited on for a change.

The oracle checked with Imperatrix.

"The usual is fine."

Lunafreya pursed her lips, but didn't bring up her concerns, it was Imperatrix's choice. She slipped out with Pryna.

"What do you order that disgusts her?" Nyx resisted picking at the gauze on his arm.

The dry skin was beginning to bug him. Or was it the princess lounging casually on the opposite bed that bugged him?

This was the first time he'd been alone with Imperatrix and he was hyper aware of her every movement.

"It is not the food that worries her, it is the fact that I am a vegetarian that does."

"What?! How can you not like meat?" He flinched from sitting up to fast.

Deep breaths.

If Libertus were present he'd drag the princess to the nearest barbecue and make her eat every meat dish until she came to love them.

Vegetarian diets were almost unheard of in their day and age, especially for a soldier.

Imperatrix appeared slim and lithe in that party dress and he assumed that came from her being a light eater, not from a special diet. How was she in fighting shape with such a limited palate?

"I had an agonizing experience when I was thirteen." Imperatrix grimaced. She hadn't wanted to scare Lunafreya by sharing this story, but the glaive wouldn't be as squeamish. "A fillet I was eating was poisoned and left me bedridden for five days with a terrible fever and weak limbs. I swore off all variations of meat afterwords."

"Damn, that's screwed up on so many levels." Nyx felt bad for belittling her choice now. "I got food poisoning once from some undercooked kabab, but that wasn't intentional."

Imperatrix quirked her lips in appreciation.

An edgy silence descended.

The princess retreated into her own world and payed little attention to Nyx observing her.

According to Lunafreya, the slip of a woman had dragged him to Longwythe while fighting off exhaustion and a slight fever. Then handed away an expensive piece of jewelry to pay for everything.

Alfred let the glaive see the headpiece and Nyx could tell it was meant for royalty. Imperatrix did all that for him and Lunafreya, total strangers and previously her enemies.

He had even threatened the woman multiple times and took her hostage.

Imperatrix was a very different kind of princess...

"What happened to my uniform?"

The princess looked up from her phone. "I gave it to Victoria to fix, not that there was much to salvage. You are better off getting a brand new coat."

"Fat chance of getting a replacement now. Where'd my stuff disappear to?"

Imperatrix picked up a backpack and gave it to Nyx. His kukri, wallet, phone, and other supplies were inside. He removed a picture of his family from the wallet and sighed in relief.

All five members were accounted for, his parents, sister, and grandfather. Most importantly, it was undamaged.

"You spoke of your sister before. If I may, what was her name?" The princess had seen the photo when Victoria handed over Nyx's effects.

Prying hadn't been her intention at time, she was checking if the glaive possessed any gil, when she happened upon the photo.

"Selena." He softened, tracing his sister's face.

That girl had been his biggest fan and he let her down.

"The passing of a sibling is a monumental blow. My heart goes out to you."

"Careful, don't show your soft side too often or I won't be afraid of you, Princess." Nyx deflected, switching the photo for his phone.

He needed to call his mother.

"It is broken, the battery is fried."

"How do you know?"

"Forgive me, but I tried using it myself." Imperatrix elaborated before Nyx could cast suspicions. "I wanted to call my sisters."

"It slipped my mind that you've got siblings." He tossed the phone back into the bag.

It made sense now why she'd tried to console him.

His mother would have to wait until he could drop in on her. Seeing Libertus should at least alleviate some of her worry, or maybe push her to more grief.

He'd been very vague when saying goodbye to his friend. For all Nyx knew, the ex-glaive could think him dead.

Imperatrix removed her jacket and shoes, sitting cross-legged on the bed. She would meditate until Lunafreya returned.

A calm and clear head was what she needed now.

The offer given to her was one the princess had to consider. It not only affected her, but her whole country.

Peace in Eos wasn't something to turn down without good reason. The two nations had been fighting for too many years.

"You've got a bunch of half-siblings and stepmoms, right? What's that like?"

Imperatrix opened one eye in response to Nyx's question. "Like a typical family."

"Come on, indulge me. There's nothing else to do." The glaive complained, gesturing to the basic room he was now confined to. "There's not even a tv in here."

She rested her cheek on her knuckles, indifferent to Nyx's plight.

A soldier on bedrest could truly be a nuisance.

The weight of his stare made her open both eyes. Seconds ticked by with two different shades of blue locking gazes.

"How am I supposed to get comfortable around you if you won't talk, Imperatrix? Sharing would get rid of all this tension."

The princess rolled her eyes. If anything, Nyx was making things uncomfortable with his blatant staring. "Very well, Ulric. I will share the inner workings of the imperial family with you. No sharing with any tabloids."

"Lay it on me."

Whatever needed to be done to make his gawking stop.

Imperatrix wasn't going to attack him if he looked away.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"By the Six, I'm going to be sick!" Nyx wailed, leaning his head against the dashboard and holding his quivering stomach. "I thought you said they teach flying at the academy?!"

"Obviously, the oracle did not attend." Imperatrix fought a smirk, secretly relishing in his motion-sickness. This could be considered payback for the stomach problems he'd caused her with all the warping. "Keep her steady, Lunafreya."

The airship wobbled to and fro from the girl's unsure piloting.

The princess nearly fell from a sudden shift in trajectory. Pryna whimpered pathetically and dug her paws into the floor to stop herself from sliding about the cockpit.

"Driving a car is much simpler than this." Lunafreya muttered, frustrated with her fumbling when it came to moving the steering wheel.

The oracle had accepted Imperatrix's offer of flying lessons, thinking she could pick up on it quickly like with the car and prove to the princess that given time, Lunafreya could have flown them to Insomnia. Currently, she was proving the woman's point and it was stroking her temper.

She could privately concede that believing she could miraculously fly an imperial airship in the spur of the moment was impudent...

"I'm really going to puke if this ride doesn't smooth out." Nyx fought bitterly against his stomach. A few more jerks and he wouldn't hold out much longer.

Sheer determination not to humiliate himself in front of two girls was all that held the bile back.

"Like this, Lunafreya." Imperatrix adjusted the girl's grip and kept her hands over the oracle's shaky ones. "You have to keep a firm grip, if you ease up the wheel will move on its own."

"A-Ah, I understand."

The princess relinquished control to the oracle and immediately regretted it as the ship veered upward. Imperatrix hit the ramp before falling backwards with Pryna to the hangar.

"Screw this!" Nyx reached over and took control from Lunafreya, leveling the ship out and putting on the autopilot. He bore holes into the oracle's skull.

"I profusely apologize." She lowered her head, very much emulating a kicked puppy.

The glaive tsked, feeling only a little bad for his lash in temper. "I think you might've killed the imperial princess."

"How?" Lunafreya glanced back, not spotting Imperatrix or Pryna. "Where did they go?"

"Uh, flying backwards. Didn't you hear her shriek?"

"No…" The oracle unfastened her seatbelt and Nyx leaned back to let her race down to the hangar.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He sighed.

Imperatrix and him agreed to accompany Lunafreya for the time being until they came to a final decision.

The glaive had more or less decided to be the oracle's protector for the journey to Altissa. He felt obligated to see the job done to the end in respect for King Regis.

That man had given his life for the three of them, and for better or worse, it seemed like they were stuck together.

"You alright there, Imperatrix?" Nyx chuckled at the princess rubbing her skull and waving off Lunafreya's apologies with patience acquired from someone used to shenanigans.

"I am fine." She situated herself in the pilot's seat, opting to turn a blind eye to the glaive's snickering.

"Sure you're up to that? You might have a concussion. I heard that crash from all the way up here."

"I do not need a concussion to see you fly."

"Woah, was that a threat?"

"Possibly."

"I'm injured, you can't be too rough with me." Nyx side-eyed Imperatrix. "Maybe next time though."

The princess snorted.

Lunafreya sat on the steps, beckoning Pryna closer. "I did not mean to hurt you, girl."

The dog whined, circling around in an agitated fashion.

Pryna could be far more temperamental than Umbra. She eventually accepted the caresses of her master after enough begging.

"Fret not, Lunafreya. I have seen worse steering. We will practice some other time." Imperatrix attempted to alleviate the girl's depressed air.

"How bout when I'm not onboard?" Nyx chimed in cheekily.

The princess squinted her eyes at him. Her hand slipped on the wheel and the ship rocked.

Lunafreya caught her dog and held onto the steps. Nyx jolted in his seat.

"What the hell?! Don't do that!" He demanded, fastening his seatbelt.

Imperatrix played innocent. "I do not know what you mean."

"Don't get cute with me."

"I leave _cute_ to my sisters, the word does not suit me." She rocked the ship once more.

"Goddam it! I'm gonna walk to Galahd at this rate."

"Not feasible in your condition."

"Imperatrix, I do not think Pryna likes this either." Lunafreya struggled to hold her dog when Pryna kept frantically whipping around.

The princess stopped her antics and focused on getting the group to Galahd.

After much arguing they had settled on stopping at Nyx's homeland for the man to meet with his mother and friend. Imperatrix wanted their next destination to be a major city like Lestallum to get skin grafts for the glaive, but he was alarmingly blasé about the possibility of more scarring.

The crazy man wanted the evidence to stay as a reminder of the battle he'd fought and the life he'd given up.

The princess found his reasoning to be noble, but ultimately stupid. She would keep an eye on his arm for further infection.

"What is Galahd like?" Lunafreya asked.

"A real beauty. It's a series of islands with a river connecting them all." Nyx reclined in his seat, nostalgia overtaking him. "Libertus and I played in the river almost everyday…Selena too. I taught her how to swim after she almost drowned."

"Sounds lovely. Are there fish in the river?" Lunafreya wanted to glimpse the aquatic creatures hidden in the sea.

Noctis wrote so much about how fun and relaxing it was to watch them swim around or fish them out with a rod.

"Yeah, loads of colorful ones. Sometimes their scales wash ashore and the people make jewelry out of them." He smiled playfully at the princess. "I'm sure I could make a crown out of them to replace yours."

"The most exotic crown I have received was made out flowers, a scaled one would certainly be more interesting." She returned the smile with a small one of her own. "Do not feel obligated to repay me. It was not just your life I saved by giving away the diadem..."

A tender part of Imperatrix felt that token of generosity wouldn't amount to much in the eyes of the thousands left homeless and destitute by the fall.

A large portion of refugees had already turned up in Longwythe by the time they departed, each one looking more devastated than the last. So many had their lives torn asunder by two rulers.

 _Veni, vidi, vici_. The words of her father and the emblazoned motto on the Aldercapt's coat of arms.

Moments like these, the princess didn't take pride in her family name.

"I'm still gonna make you a crown of scales and you're gonna love it. So much, you'll want one for each of your sisters." Nyx boasted in light of the quiet suspense.

The loud, aggressive arguing in the Kingsglaive was what he was used to, not the gloomy and glazed vision of two princesses.

"This is the second time you have propositioned me. Are you that eager to be employed by me, Nyx Ulric?" Imperatrix raised her eyebrow challengingly.

"You caught me. I gotta keep myself busy, no one likes a slouch."

"You do not need me to keep busy, I am sure you do well enough on your own."

The princess said that with such a straight-face that Nyx really had to question if her words were suggestive or if he imagined that.

He was fairly sure he knew which way she was leaning, but he had to be sure. "Did you just attack my character?"

She hummed nonchalantly.

"You did." He blinked.

"We have arrived at Galahd." Imperatrix cut him off.

Lunafreya stepped up to the console. "It is lush with nature, like Tenebrae."

From their veiwpoint the main island was covered in deep green forestry and surrounded by water. A light fog surrounded the area, giving the place an air of mystery.

She was sure the place was even more beautiful up close.

"We don't have floating castles though. Or fields of sylleblossoms." Nyx took pride in the girl's wonder.

His home had been wrecked by the Niff's attack, but the king's magic allowed the Kingsglaive to take back the region, allowing the inhabitants to rebuild.

"Our castles do not float, they sit on the mountains." The oracle scrunched up her brows reflectively. "I suppose they might appear that way from a distance."

"I was joking, Lunafreya." The glaive snickered. "Don't take things so seriously."

"I see. I will keep that in mind."

"And lighten up would you…" He muttered lowly as to not hurt her feelings.

Imperatrix docked the airship a distance from the rest area where the locals parked vehicles for travel and trade.

They would need to take a boat to reach the glaive's home and he warned the girls that coeurls were native. The princess would have to play bodyguard on route to the shore.

"Ulric, I have a question for you." Imperatrix shut the lift with the press of the keypad.

"Ask away, Princess." The glaive pushed off the airship.

He appeared to be in good spirits from returning home. She almost didn't want to spoil his mood with her concerns.

"Do you think it wise for me to accompany you to the village?"

"What're you talking about? You don't want to go?" Nyx inquired with a tinge of umbrage.

Was this a moment of snobbiness? Did she not want to venture into some backwater country?

"That is not it..." The princess shook her head and tugged at her blouse.

The climate in Lucis was too hot and this region was very humid.

"I am a _Nephilim_ and the _crown princess_ at that. Will your people not be angry at my presence?"

A look of grim understanding crossed Nyx's face and he swore for thinking the worst of the princess. He had to stop that. "Can't believe I didn't think of that…I'm really off."

He'd been more preoccupied with seeing his mom and friend to consider the delicate position he'd put Imperatrix in.

Lunafreya's presence would be a shock, but a pleasant one for the villagers. Him walking in all chummy with the daughter of the man that ordered an attack on their home was not likely to fly. She may not have directly attacked them, but the people wouldn't care.

The princess would be a scapegoat for their frustrations.

How could he be so careless?

"Not an issue. I will escort you and Lunafreya to the shore and wait here." Imperatrix decided for him.

Nyx recoiled in disbelief at her impassivity. She had to be bothered by the situation, he would be if in her position.

When the princess stepped away, he grabbed her arm. Imperatrix tensed at the contact and he faintly tugged on the limb, recognizing that he hadn't been gentle in his previous attempts of contact and she'd be wary of him.

He'd caught brief sightings of the bruises he left on her wrist and arms from Insomnia and felt remorseful for them.

"Yes?" She faced Nyx and didn't shrug off the hand that slid down to hold hers.

The glaive was being fairly bold, but she was learning that was just his way.

He studied her wrist, assuaged that the skin peeking out between her sleeve and glove had returned to its bronze tone.

"Come with us."

"I stated how unwise that is. I am not welcome in Lucis territory."

"You're not my enemy and you're not one to anybody there." Nyx asserted with determination.

This woman that he despised on sight had ended up being someone he could trust with his life, literally.

She'd gone above and beyond to help him and that meant she was welcome in his home. If anybody had a problem with her presence they could take it up with him.

He wasn't so banged-up that he couldn't knock a few heads around if needed. The release would be welcome at this point, restlessness was eating at him from being out of combat for so long.

"Is something the matter?" Lunafreya questioned.

She found herself focusing on the point of contact between Nyx and Imperatrix. They were holding hands, or the glaive was holding the princess's hand and she was allowing it.

They couldn't be arguing.

"I cannot enter the village with you two." Imperatrix answered.

"Yes, you can." Nyx refuted.

The oracle immediately picked up on the predicament and sadly sighed.

Her feelings on other's hostility towards Imperatrix had fluctuated in their time together and it left Lunafreya feeling whiplash.

Sometimes she was impartial to the suspicious glares and harsh whispers, sharing in their discontent from the empire's destructive actions. Other times she was defensive to it after remembering how the princess fought for her and Nyx and how she gave help to those who needed without question.

The indecision had to stop...

Lunafreya requested the princess to join in her quest. If they didn't move past their issues then the prospect of peace was an impossibility.

"You must come with us. It is far too dangerous to stay out here by yourself." The oracle added her opinion to the matter. "I will speak on your behalf if any decry you."

As the oracle, the people of Galahd could trust her not to bring chaos and pain to their doorstep. Her arrival preluded only peace.

"I will too. I'll even add some muscle if things get out of hand." Nyx squeezed Imperatrix's hand at the sign of her misty eyes. "So stop being a scaredy-cat. The Hero will protect you."

The princess pulled her hand out of his grasp, reigning in her teary gratitude. These two were repeatedly bringing her to the verge of tears, it was disconcerting.

"I was not afraid for myself, but fearful of the reception you two would receive with me along."

He gave her a lopsided smile. "You worry too much. Now are you coming or not?"

Imperatrix gazed at her temporary companions.

They weren't Tempesta and Nebula, who she didn't mind appearing vulnerable to.

Nebula would comfort her with one of his side-hugs and reminisce over past endeavors, finding a particular one to renew her purpose. He was only four years older than her, but he exuded the sophisticated air of an old man, very like her uncle.

Cheering her up was his job.

Tempesta would stimulate her resolve with punches that hurt and heated yells that picked at a person's insecurities. She wouldn't stop until Imperatrix was back on her feet and tackling her problems with the girl as back-up in all her vulgar and explosive glory.

Forcing the princess into action was her job.

Without them, Imperatrix had to grit her teeth and face her fears as best she could.

She couldn't falter.

This wouldn't be the first time she faced a collective group of people casting stones at her. The princess could and would face them.

"I will join you." Imperatrix settled on bravely walking alongside Nyx and Lunafreya than hiding alone in the airship. She grabbed her bag and adjusted the holster for her sword.

"Hear, hear!" Nyx jovially swung his gear over his shoulder and walked forward.

"Lunafreya, remember what I said about pacing yourself. Do not force yourself to keep up with us, speak if you are tired." The princess ordered firmly. "Pryna cannot always be your voice of reason."

The dog barked in agreement.

"I simply do not wish to be burden..." The oracle stepped in tune with the princess, praying that the few times she assisted Imperatrix in gathering materials for Alfred would have improved her stamina.

The girl didn't want a repeat of Insomnia or Longwythe, where she pushed herself well past her limits to meet the goal.

Her body could only take so much…

"You are not a burden by resting, but by collapsing from strained muscles, and possibly damaging them permanently."

Lunafreya nodded solemnly.

"Exercising regularly would fix that issue."

"You mean running?"

"Indeed. Other strengthening methods would be beneficial for you as well." The princess considered pensively.

Lunafreya was the essence of delicate. It was no wonder the girl got fatigued from minor amounts of work.

Ravus had truly cultivated a little flower in his sister. With his standing in the empire and his own prowess, Imperatrix could understand how he saw no need for his sister to know hardship, but he could have at least given the girl a basic level of survival training. Anything could happen.

The oracle wouldn't stay locked in the manor for the rest of her life.

"I have seen how much my brother works out and even Furia…it was daunting to witness." Lunafreya admitted.

"Do not be intimidated. Regiments are created in acknowledgement of the trainee. Those two, Ravus especially, are used to grueling conditioning. You must start much smaller."

"Would you…" The oracle halted.

Pryna tilted her head curiously at her.

"Need to rest?" Imperatrix assumed and prepared to call for Nyx to stop.

"No." She imagined Umbra then, how he roamed across Eos for her to carry messages between the two lovers.

It hit Lunafreya that her dog did more in a day than she did and it upset her greatly.

"Would you be willing to train me?"

"Me?" The princess repeated, astonished by the request.

"Yes. I recall Ravus speaking of the old military units you trained personally. I believe you wouldd be an adept teacher."

"He spoke of the _Valeria Victrix_? How touching." Imperatrix smiled.

The first legion she'd been placed in charge of and named in honor of her mother. It was the envy of many commanders.

"I will not coddle you if this is what you want."

"It is."

"Then you've a teacher."

Lunafreya beamed.

"What's the holdup? It can't be break time already? I haven't even broken a sweat." Nyx noticed they weren't following him and stopped.

"My apologies, I got distracted." The oracle hastened to his side with her dog taking point.

Imperatrix was slow to trail along, pondering on the new agreement.

Talking diminished and the group concentrated on making it to the village before nightfall.

Daemons would take the group out with ease when its two fighters weren't at their best. Nyx was impaired on the right side and Imperatrix lacked proper equipment.

Worst case scenario, Lunafreya's natural affinity for light would drive away the weaker daemons. If a powerful one like a Giant emerged, then Imperatrix would provide a distraction while the others escaped.

A desperate plan that no one was keen on using.

Mercifully, they were only impeded by a few toads that were dispatched by Imperatrix and by late evening the group made it to the shore of their destination.

The boat they used bobbed languidly on the river and the sun cast an orange glow on the water.

"Dusk is so beautiful to watch. It is regrettable that it heralds such nightly terrors. Night would be magically if not for the daemons." Lunafreya was absorbed with the bountiful of colors before her eyes.

Like her name, the oracle found herself more in tune with the later portion of the day and often spent nights gazing at the moon, the last visage of light at the darkest time.

"It is hard to imagine life without them. Half our day is spent worrying about daemon attacks." Imperatrix stared at the horizon.

There were thousands of displaced people worrying about shelter and being attacked in the night.

"Time to hop out, ladies." Nyx stated, carefully getting out the boat.

He grunted from how inflamed his leg had become from all the activity. Sitting down hadn't helped much.

"This river must be like starlight at night with the moon reflecting off it." Lunafreya was still entranced.

"The lights should make this area safe at night, but do not come here alone." Imperatrix knew where the oracle's mind was heading and didn't want the girl endangering herself for moon gazing.

The barking of Pryna snapped the girls out their conversation and they joined Nyx.

Lunafreya tried to shush the dog as some of the villagers gathered at the docks. Imperatrix silently transferred her sword to the glaive. Appearing armed before the people wouldn't set them at ease.

"Want me to hold your hand too? I don't mind, Imperatrix." Nyx teased.

"Only if you require my arm for assistance in walking since your leg is obviously hurting." She threw back to his amusement.

"There is no need to be afraid. Violence is not the way of everyone." Lunafreya had meant that as soothing, but it could be interpreted as insulting to the princess's countrymen.

Cries of "Nyx" ended the standstill and people rushed to the glaive, embracing him and exclaiming their relief for his survival in the wake of Insomnia's tragedy. He took all the excitement in stride, answering as many questions as he could.

Libertus had filled many of them in on the events so he wasn't in the uncomfortable position of explaining the Kingsglaive's downfall.

It still hurt to look some of them in the eye and confirm whether or not certain members really did cut a deal with the Niffs, moreso, when he had to acknowledge that they were dead...

The mention of Niflheim brought attention to the girls.

The thick silence from the villagers realizing the imperial princess was on their doorstep made Nyx swallow. Too many of them were eyeing Imperatrix with hate.

He might get into an altercation after all. No one was going to harm her.

"Nyx Ulric is that you?!"

The yell of his mother was a godsend. "Mom!"

Thea barreled into her son and nearly knocked him over.

She'd already lost her daughter and husband, losing her son too would have been the end of her. "Thank the Six you're alive."

"Hey show's over, back to your lives!" Libertus boomed as he descended the stairs and warded off the other villagers.

Imperatrix released the breath she didn't realize she was holding and Lunafreya's hand let go of her sleeve.

That could've escalated very fast.

"Mom, you've got no idea how good it is to see you." The glaive hugged his mother tight.

She wrestled out of his hold and slapped his arm. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear?!"

The glaive groaned, biting back the curse that wanted to escape. She'd hit him right on his bad arm.

"No mercy whatsoever…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Nyx patted a dazed Libertus to stave off another painful reprimand. "Good to see you too, big guy."

"You made it back…I can't believe it." He teared up. "You bastard! Making me worry with that crappy goodbye."

This time a punch was delivered to Nyx's bad arm.

"Ah, c'mon?! That shit hurts, believe it or not!"

"Shut up and take it like a man!" Libertus geared up for another swift hit.

"I'll remember this next time you need saving!" Nyx maneuvered his arm away from the oaf.

"Enough, boys!" Thea slapped both their heads and her son swore again.

"She is a very…hands-on mother." Lunafreya murmured to Imperatrix.

"Better not cross her." She replied.

"Welcome to Galahd, princesses. I didn't think you'd be visiting so soon." Libertus addressed the girls like he hadn't just been chewed out by a woman smaller and older than him.

"We didn't either." Lunafreya smiled, not confronting the brutality she just witnessed. It must've been how Galahdians showed affection.

Ravus and Furia behaved similarly with their weapons. A sword and whip often clashed in their home.

When Libertus told them they were welcome in Galahd, he'd mostly meant it to Lunafreya and Noctis, but he wouldn't be unwelcoming to Imperatrix when she saved him from falling out the car.

"So it's true. The imperial princess is here." Thea spat, wondering if her son had lost his mind. "Why is she with you Nyx? Every news station is saying she's dead and the reason why Insomnia was destroyed."

"That's a long story, but the short version is, I saved her life and she saved mine." Nyx had to cull the mistrust right off the bat. He didn't want to get into it with his mother, but he would. "Imperatrix and Lunafreya are my guests. Neither of them are threats."

"The oracle, too? When did you get so popular?" She was getting surprise after surprise.

"These girls aren't bad, they're pretty crafty in a fight." Libertus added, recalling the life-threatening car ride out of Insomnia.

If he hadn't seen Imperatrix stick her neck out for Lunafreya and him, he'd have a hard time believing Nyx, too.

Thea sighed. "Then let's all go home and we can discuss everything. It's getting dark."

She would give the imperial princess a chance out of respect for her son and Libertus.

"Thank you, Madam." Imperatrix bowed her head gratefully for the olive branch.

"Thea is fine. You'll find no royalty here so no need for all that formality." The matriarch briskly led the way.

A cozy cottage away from the main square was the Ulric household. The inside was filled with pelts, tribal items, and pictures.

Nyx and Libertus deeply inhaled the smell of a spicy Galahdian dish currently coming from the kitchen and their stomachs roared.

"For heart and home" rung in their minds.

Lunafreya uneasily observed the wall-hangings. There were monster and animal heads all about. Her fingers dug into Pryna's fur and the dog whined lowly.

This was a village of hunters and the oracle wouldn't be happy if someone targeted her dog. She accepted that people needed to hunt for survival, but when it turned into sport she grew ill.

"Boys, stay out of my kitchen! Dinner will be ready in an hour. Go wash up and quit stinking up my house!" Thea shooed them away from the kitchen before they snuck in a few bites.

She fondly recalled how they did the same thing as children, but it was cuter back than, especially with little Selena poking her head in.

"I don't smell." Libertus leaned away from Nyx. "But you do."

"Let me fix that." The glaive lifted his arm and slung it around the oaf's neck, choke-holding him. "Payback time!"

Thea rolled her eyes and turned to the girls. "Don't stand there, come help me in the kitchen."

"Woah, Mom. I don't think that's a good idea."

"And why's that? I said there's no royalty here, which means no special treatment." Her venom was directed at the stoic princess.

"That's not it." Nyx let go of a gasping Libertus. "Can either of you even cook? No need to ruin a good meal."

Since they'd been together, the group of three had been eating at the diner or grabbing snacks.

As royals the girls had other people to cook for them, it wasn't unrealistic to assume they'd never cooked a day in their life.

Recovered from the forced inhaling of Nyx's armpit, Libertus barked a laugh. "They couldn't even drive a car. Cooking is probably on that list of things they can't do."

Lunafreya colored at the heckling and felt incredibly small under Thea's withering glare.

"I am sorry to disappoint." She confirmed their suspicions.

The matriarch clicked her tongue. These girls needed to be whipped into shape.

"And you? Know anything about preparing a meal?" She needled, anticipating an identical response from the other princess.

"I have fed a fair number of people in my lifetime and none have complained."

Three amazed faces gaped at Imperatrix.

"When would you ever need to cook?" Nyx ventured to ask what everyone was thinking.

"At the breaking of camp." She vaguely answered.

The princess didn't want to go into detail about her presence on battlefields in front of this group.

After a laborious battle, Imperatrix would take it upon herself to assist in preparing meals for the soldiers instead of dinning by herself. Once done she would eat alongside them not as their princess, but as their comrade-in-arms.

If she could fight beside her men then she could eat beside them as well.

"Guess I only have to worry about one of you." Thea motioned for the girls to come with her and ordered Lunafreya to keep the mutt out of the kitchen.

"You think they'll be alright with your mom?" Libertus made himself comfortable on the couch. "She's got it out for Imperatrix."

"Worse she'll do is hurt their feelings. Mom's a hard-ass, not a bully." Nyx took a seat in his father's favorite armchair.

He hadn't been home in years...

Selena and him used to run wild in the house, playing tag with their father, while their mother yelled at them to be careful and their grandfather laughed at all the chaos.

Nyx could even make out the red stain in the rug from when he tripped and busted his tooth. No matter how much he cleaned the rug the stain wouldn't come out and his mother loved reminding him about how he ruined a perfectly good gift.

"What about the others? They're…gonna start trouble."

"They better not or I'll be breaking noses. We don't harm guests here."

Libertus exhaled derisively."You don't look like you've got it in you, Nyx."

"Don't doubt me. I took down General Glauca."

"You and an army of statues." He sobered up, curling his fists. "It might come to a riot. You didn't hear some of the things they said."

Nyx snarled.

"What're you two doing?! I told you both to wash up!" Thea shouted from the kitchen.

The boys jumped out their seats and raced up the stairs to the next floor.

The mother in Thea missed the sound of thumping footsteps in the house.

"Hold the knife like this."

The matriarch had to restrain herself from smacking Imperatrix's hand away from the oracle.

The princess was only fixing Lunafreya's grip to stop her from cutting the vegetables into large chunks like she'd been doing. Thea had specifically delegated watching the meat brown in the oven to Imperatrix for her own peace of mind.

Thea didn't want that imperial woman near any sharp objects. But shel was a guest, a certain level of civility needed to be honored...

"Imperatrix, is it?"

The princess nodded at the matriarch, mentally preparing for a scathing remark or a demanding task. The woman had both in abundance.

"That's some muscle on you. Is one steak going to be enough for you? Libertus and Nyx can eat two with how big-boned they are."

"I…do not eat meat."

"What?" The mother made the same stupefied face as her son and Imperatrix bit her lip to stop a smile.

Thea would view it as the princess mocking her.

"Is she serious?"

"Very. I have not seen her eat anything other than fruits, variations of vegetables, and junk food." Lunafreya cut the last of her items and handed the tray to Thea.

Imperatrix's appetite was certainly different from Noctis's.

The prince would have a meltdown over how vegetable-oriented the princess's diet was. Or perhaps they'd make fine dinning companions?

Imperatrix would consume all the vegetables while Noctis consumed the meats. It was a funny thought.

"What person in their right mind doesn't eat meat?" Thea grumbled about the conundrum the entire time they cooked.

Imperatrix's courtly shield was displayed fully as she showed no hint of annoyance to the woman berating her dietary choice, which then lead to the elder woman going into enthusiastic tales of her husband's hunting skill, and the game he brought back for dinners.

When the boys joined them, Lunafreya almost wanted to cry tears of joy for the interruption of a rather graphic tale of skewering a garula. She was close to losing her appetite entirely.

Dinner turned into a somber affair with Nyx and Libertus relaying the events preceding the fall and the conclusion of the Insomnia. Lunafreya took over the storytelling after reaching the end of the boy's parts.

The actual explanation of Imperatrix's involvement with Nyx's recovery in the wreckage and trip to the clinic softened Thea's attitude to the princess, but only marginally. The mother wouldn't be warming up to the imperial for a long time.

"To bed all of you. The girl's can share Selena's room." Thea decreed after the meal had been finished and utensils cleaned.

"I'll show you upstairs." Nyx offered after Libertus bade them all a good night to return home.

"Nyx?" Her son let the girls exit first while he catered to her. "No funny business, son."

He choked at the warning. "I can't believe you'd think that?!"

"I can. You've got your father's looks and charms, that's a dangerous combination." Thea's brown orbs slanted, remembering how flirtatious her husband had been. "They're pretty enough. And the first girls you've ever brought home."

"I'm not…we...don't need to have this discussion!" Nyx found his mom's blunt humor funny to watch, but he didn't like it when he was the butt of her jokes.

"I know your father was supposed to, but he didn't get the chance."

"No, no, no! I'm too old for this." The glaive promptly walked out the kitchen and to the top of the stairs where the girls were waiting.

He didn't need his mother telling him to watch himself.

Anybody with eyes could see that both Lunafreya and Imperatrix were beyond pleasing to look at! They exuded unnatural beauty that people of royal blood often did and Nyx had a front row seat to it when he was glued to them from traveling.

The glaive locked himself in his room to stew after showing the girls Selena's room and leftover nightclothes they could use.

Now he was going to be extremely conscious of the princesses.

"This an odd arrangement we are settling into." Lunafreya slid under the covers after brushing out the last tangle in her hair and letting it cascade down to her back.

Pryna settled at the foot of the bed.

The oracle and princess had been sharing sleeping quarters since Nyx awakened and took Lunafreya's bed at her insistence. With the dog added to the mix, three occupants crowed into a bed every night.

"Really? I am quite used to it." Imperatrix didn't open her eyes from her side of the bed. She could sense the girl's intrigued blue eyes. "If not one of my sisters, it would be my female attendant that often crept into my bed for whatever reason."

Venus was the most repeated addition. The sweet child got scared over the slightest sounds in her room and sought comfort.

Their father was the first person the fourth princess ran to, but he had stressed the importance of Venus growing out of her fears. He forced the girl back to her room with a heavy heart after the night visits persisted two years after her arrival to the palace.

Imperatrix became the next recipient and she hadn't the heart to turn away the terrified child.

Furia had slept next to her older sister when she was younger just because she liked to, and picked up the habit again when her marriage had been finalized. Those nights she confided in Imperatrix how nervous she was to be married to a stranger.

Only tales of the princess and ex-prince's bitter rivalry and eventual friendship endeared the second princess to the arranged marriage.

Euphemia rarely had sleepovers with Imperatrix, not understanding the allure after the first time.

Tempesta didn't sleep in the royal chambers with the princess, but she did end up sharing a bunk bed or hotel bed with her in between missions.

The younger Besithia was the most interesting bedmate with all her sprawling and cuddling, it contradicted her combative personality.

"I am most pleased that you do not snore, drool, or cling in your sleep." Imperatrix buried herself further into the pillow, drained from dealing with malcontented citizens.

Nyx's mother had pushed her buttons on purpose to get a rise out of the princess.

"You do talk incoherently though."

Lunafreya's blush was hidden in the darkness of the room. "Did you catch anything from those experiences?"

As the oracle, she dreamed of events that could transpire, and on exceptional occasions, one of The Six would reach out to Lunafreya in her sleep. Contact with the gods did cause her to sleep-talk, but those discussions weren't in the common tongue.

" _Noctis_ was the most lucid thing." Imperatrix felt her companion's jerk. "You are very fond of him."

"Fond…does not do it justice..."

Many of her dreams centered on the prince's fate, but there were a small few so sweet and unlikely that they made Lunafreya wake in forlorn tears for what could not be.

Lunafreya and Noctis were bound by fate.

She, his guide and he, her lost lamb. Her entire life revolved around that boy.

"I suppose distance does make the heart fonder..."

The oracle tilted her head at the note of yearning in Imperatrix's voice. "Have you ever been in love?"

They had discussed the subject before and the princess's answer had been so logical and cold. Perhaps that had been a conditioned response?

Imperatrix struggled to avoid the question when Lunafreya's innocent face was tugging relentlessly at her chest. She really needed to toughen up. "You will laugh…"

"Only if you tell me Ravus was your first love."

Imperatrix laughed and covered her mouth, afraid of disturbing Nyx in the next room. "I can say with complete honesty that I have never viewed him in that manner. At best, I love him as a friend and comrade."

"Then who?"

She was quiet until finally muttering. "Ardyn."

Lunafreya sprung up with her hands covering her mouth, eyes wide with disbelief.

"That was my first encounter with any romantic curiosities. It was that red hair that beguiled me. No one else had such crimson locks..." The princess flared her nostrils, recalling all the reasons the chancellor got on her last nerve now.

He played games with people, tempted her father with all his talk of conquest, and the abhorrent machine advancement. Not to mention his...

"My infatuation did not last long. My country became my greatest love afterwards."

"Ardyn Izunia?!" The oracle reiterated, still stunned and not registering the ongoing conversation.

"Disgusting, I know..."

"Not disgusting…unexpected...highly so." Lunafreya attempted to amend her actions since the princess was visibly anguished. "He is…handsome and charming…to a degree."

"No need to justify my choice. I knew it would get a negative reaction. Ardyn is a hobgoblin in the flesh."

The oracle giggled uncontrollably.

"Any other secrets you wouldd like me to divulge? You and Nyx are quite interested it seems."

"How bout who your first kiss was?"

The girls startled at the glaive's voice.

"Ulric?" Imperatrix turned on the lamp, illuminating Nyx's cocky posture against the doorway.

Had he been listening the whole time?!

"I had the honor? Who knew? Must've been tipsy when it happened." He chuckled at her huff. "I'd remember kissing a princess of your caliber."

"Should you not be asleep?"

"Kinda hard with two girls giggling from late night girl-talk." The glaive pushed off the door. "The walls here are thin."

Their giggling really was driving him up the wall.

He was already in a snit about his mom's words and while he knew they weren't laughing at him, his frazzled mind felt they were. Now he felt even more irked to be seeing the girls in lighter sleepwear since Galahd's temperature was warm at night.

Propriety was going to become nonexistent in the future if they stayed together...

Nyx had already seen a good portion of Imperatrix's body from the scrap of a dress she ran around in during The Fall. The damned woman also didn't seem to care when he caught glimpses of her exposed body.

Clearly, she had a soldier's detachment when it came to nudity. Lunafreya was more cautious, but her nightgown's light material defeated the purpose of its modesty.

He was a grown man stuck with two attractive women.

Nyx was in a predicament that most men would love, but he was already dreading the tricky situations that would arise in the future.

"We will be quiet from now on." Imperatrix turned the light off and laid down.

"Sure…" Nyx pawed at his scruffy chin. He really needed to shave.

"Good night, Sir Ulric." The princess dismissed him.

Lunafreya echoed the same words with more warmth.

"Sweet dreams, ladies." He shuffled out.

Why did his mom have to kickstart something she shouldn't have? Journeying to Altissa was going to be awkward as hell now.


	6. Chapter 6

"Is this truly how we are going to spend the day?" Imperatrix crossed her arms, mirthfully watching Nyx inspect the ground for his treasure. "You and Lunafreya are so carefree."

The oracle accompanied Libertus to the market to buy ingredients for Thea. The girl was set on learning how to cook at least one edible dish after all the verbal thrashings she'd received over the past days.

Her determination was endearing to the princess, but wasted on the matriarch. Thea wrote Lunafreya off as a lost cause in the kitchen. The girl either spilled or wasted ingredients and had little sense of mixing things. Still, the oracle did everything in her power to improve.

"It takes practice." He shrugged unabashed. "In my case, I can't help it. Doctors orders were to take it easy."

"Trekking through the river for scales is not helping your leg or arm."

"Yeah, it is. I'm retaining my muscle strength." The glaive bent low, reaching into the dirt and digging. "Can't sit on my ass all day."

"How many of these are you going to collect? We have half a bag."

"Tired?"

"No." The princess denied, tugging at her shirt.

Humidity and heat were bothering her, not fatigue. Worse, her hair was beginning to curl from sweat and it sat uncomfortably on her neck.

"Let's take a break anyway." Nyx held out the scale and Imperatrix opened the sack for him to drop it into.

"As you wish."

The glaive led the princess to the edge of the shore.

He rolled up his pants, removed his shoes, laid on the ground, and let the river caress his feet with its cool touch. It took him tugging the princess down for her to join him, which ended up with her sprawled on top of him.

"I do not know royal protocol in Lucis, but in Niflheim it is a capital offense to manhandle a princess." She pushed off a grinning Nyx.

"You just fell into my arms, Imperatrix. I know for a fact it's difficult to manhandle you." He chuckled.

The princess could put up a lot of resistance and if she really wanted to, could've gotten into a fist fight with him back in Insomnia. Instead, she played it smart when faced with a stronger opponent, saving herself a crushing defeat from him.

"You tell yourself the strangest things." The princess argued, mimicking Nyx and taking off her footwear to dip her feet into the water.

How could it be so humid and hot? She was so uncomfortable...

"You and Lunafreya aren't used to warm weather, are you?" Nyx eyed the casual clothing loaned to the princess.

He could pretend she was a traveller on vacation with how dressed-down she was.

"That obvious?" Imperatrix sighed.

Either she was becoming complacent in the glaive's presence or his eyes were too trained.

"The sweating is a dead-giveaway, along with the constant shifting. Lunafreya's handling it worse than you. Unsurprisingly."

The oracle was embarrassed to wear a shorter and lighter dresses, but it was necessary since the heat made her incredibly dizzy and faintish.

"The girl has not been anywhere but Tenebrae and Gralea. Frankly, I am relieved illness has not caught, considering her poor health."

"She's sickly? How was she doing all those crazy stunts in Insomnia?" Nyx's eyebrows rose skeptically.

"All the more reason for my irritation with her reckless behavior." Imperatrix dipped her hand into the river and brought it to her forehead. "Quite often I would search for Ravus at headquarters only to discover he had returned to his manor. After inquiring about the frequent trips, he confided in me that Lunafreya would repeatedly get sick from overtaxing herself. He could not bear being away from her bedside during those episodes."

Fear and love in tandem could make a person commit overbearing acts.

Ravus kept Lunafreya confined to Fenestella Manor to prevent the oracle from overusing her healing capabilities and from being attacked or abducted.

Anyone with ill intent could venture to Tenebrae, visit the chapel, and harm the oracle since the city had an open-policy concerning visitors. The country was open to all who would visit, pure intentions or not. Ravus's only measure against this policy was to either restrict his sister's movement or assign armed guards to her.

"It's really hard to put all this information with the pictures I already have of you all." Nyx groaned, scratching his arm and contemplating how much it would sting to dump the limb in the river to escape the itchiness.

"What do you mean?" Imperatrix pulled his hand away from the bandages, knowing he would break the skin and she would have to clean it up.

"Ravus is a _cuddly bear_ for his sister. Lunafreya is the stereotypical _sheltered princess_. And you're…" He quit ticking off his fingers as he made his points to study the woman next to him.

Imperatrix wasn't some celestial princess on a poster anymore or an enemy to watch out for on the battlefield.

Though he'd still like to spar with her one day to see if she truly deserved her moniker of _The_ _Unbreakable Sword_. Fat chance he'd be able to keep up with her now, impaired right side and all, but a man could dream.

By the Astrals, Captain Drautos had gone on and on about the woman's battle prowess and the danger of encountering her in mission debriefs. Nyx understood now those were moments of General Glauca hero-worshiping his student.

"And I am…still a _filthy_ _Niff_?" Imperatrix provided impassively.

The glaive's observations were crude, but witty.

"What? No!" He scoffed, affronted. He hadn't let a slur pass his lips since waking up from his coma. "More like an unorthodox or weird Nephilim."

She smiled, pleased that he'd used the right term without any correction from her. "Unorthodox, I will accept. Weird, I will not. Why do you find me bizarre?"

"Uh, what princess takes on General Glauca bare-handed? And while we're on the subject, you're freakishly strong for a girl!"

Imperatrix's argument crumbled.

The general was a monstrosity she could barely overcome in full armor and weaponry. She had known it to be suicidal to face him in a party dress with fists raised. "I concede to that point, but I know…knew him. He would have killed me regardless. Better my blood be spilled in battle, than escape."

"Spoken like a true battle-maniac."

"You have no room to talk, Ulric."

He snorted. "You got me. I did battle giant monsters way outta my league."

"Back to your other point." The princess shook her head in benign exasperation. "My strength is average. I have an attendant twice as strong. One punch from her will have your insides crying!"

"I stand by what I said, you're freakishly strong which makes me fearful of coming to blows with this retainer of yours."

"There must not have been many female fighters on your squad if you think I posses impeccable brawn."

Nyx delayed in answering. "They were...mostly assigned as support units, rather than frontline fighters."

Imperatrix quietly huffed. Capable female fighters were a commodity in both nations it seemed.

Traditionalist ways were not always prudent. A woman could prove to be a valuable asset on the field. The princess was a testament to that, as was Tempesta, and the commodore, Aranea Highwind.

The princess fully endorsed women in the military where she could.

The sun began to set and the river gained an orange glow.

Half the day had gone by in the princess and glaive's hunt for scales up and down the coast. While the activity had been childish, it did have its merits. Nyx received his physical therapy for the day and Imperatrix had time to unwind.

In the future, she would have to convince him to train alongside Lunafreya to continue improving his limb functionality.

The glaive and oracle were going to love her new training regimen.

"We should return to your home." Imperatrix fixed her clothing and slipped her shoes back on.

"What's the rush? Eager for more of Mom's tongue lashings?" Nyx made no move to get up from his comfortable spot.

The princess blankly stared at him, silence stating what she would not.

He laughed at her. His mother had been on the girl's asses nonstop.

Lunafreya's lack of cooking skills and repeated attempts to learn both frustrated and moved Thea. Lesson after lesson ended with the oracle apologizing for ruining a dish and promising to do better.

Nyx had caught the girl sniffling in Selena's room and tried assuring her that his mom didn't mean anything by her gruff behavior and to shrug it all off. Lunafreya had nodded and thanked him for his encouragement, but she continued to mope when she believed herself to be alone.

At a loss, he brought it up with Imperatrix and somehow she managed to nip the crying episodes and Lunafreya appeared more determined than ever.

He was dying to know what the princes said, but she remained tight-lipped on the subject.

Imperatrix had been on the receiving end of many snide remarks about pompous imperials, barbaric machines, and the princess's odd features. She'd been composed when responding to all those insults, expounding on whatever topic Thea brought up as if they were having a normal conversation.

Nyx now knew a lot more about imperial culture thanks to his mom's belligerent prodding.

A lot of the population of Niflheim consisted of noble families from all over and that caused a lot competitive and pompous behavior, everybody wanted to outshine the other. Of the noble houses, only a select few rose to prominence from royal favor or military achievements.

Imperatrix's darker skin tone was inherited from her mother and many from her homeland considered the princess to be the product of an exotic marriage. The deceased empress was a foreigner that caught the eye of a young emperor and caused a fairly big scandal at the time.

After that tidbit of information, Thea went on to grumble about Iedolas's many marriages and subsequent children and her distaste with it. At that point, Imperatrix's smile became creepily malignant and Nyx had to chastise his mom at the expense of a slap to the mouth, but it put an end to hostile comments.

"Did you enjoy digging in the dirt, Princess? Didn't break a nail, I hope?" The glaive jibed.

Between an edgy Thea, irate townsfolk, and an anxious trio, they all needed a break.

"Strangely, I did find this venture pleasing. I cannot remember the last time I did something so trivial." Imperatrix admired a scale that gleamed a brilliant mixture of colors.

"Trivial?! There's nothing trivial about these gems!" He pilfered the object out of her hands and twirled it, letting the light hit it in a miniature rainbow. "Everybody uses these for all kinds of jewelry, it's one of Galahd's main items of trade."

The princess nodded in understanding. "I see. My apologies for being dismissive of your culture."

"Would you tone down all the formality when we're alone?" Nyx let out a long-suffering sigh. "I'm not on the clock anymore. I don't get paid to decrypt royal-speak."

She attempted to meet his request with a tick in her jaw. "…Sure."

"By the end of this trip, I'm gonna have you and Lunafreya talking like common ruffians." He gave her a patronizing pat on the shoulder.

"Doubtful."

They stood up and began the walk back to town.

As curious as the princess was about the jewelry business of Galahd, she refrained from prying too much into the mechanics as Nyx boasted once more of his skill.

He shared the story of how he constructed a necklace for his sister as a birthday present, but it ended up being used as a hair accessory since Selena just had to stand out from other girls in the village. The story was interrupted by a pair of males running towards them.

"What's wrong?" Nyx posed to Ander, the elder of the Zamia siblings and the less panicked brother.

"Lady Lunafreya's gone missing!" The younger, Hanh shouted shrilly and garnered a rough shove from his brother for the lapse in composure.

"You kidding me? She was with Libertus, how did that happen?!"

"We don't know, but he's been around the square asking if anybody's seen her." Ander pointed to the forest area beyond the town. "We've looked everywhere but there."

"With good reason. The sun's almost gone..." Nyx grimaced, dreading sending anyone into the forest.

"Daemons appear there even with the town's lights?" Imperatrix scanned the lowering sun, it would be gone by the time she retrieved her sword from the house and made it to the forest. In that time span Lunafreya could be beset upon by predators or venture further in and away from safety.

"Yeah, but it's not often they approach the town so we just set up a guard and stay out of the place at night." The glaive exhaled. "Let's go rescue our lost damsel, Imperatrix."

"It's not safe for you." Ander stepped in Nyx's way, blocking him from moving forward.

"It's less safe for Lunafreya. Outta my way."

"I'm not letting you go in there, Nyx. Go home and wait."

"Why waste time coming to get me then?! You could've been searching!"

"W-We came to ask for _her_ help." Hanh nervously flicked his eyes to the eerily quiet princess."She'd cover more ground than you."

"Imperatrix doesn't know the area, involving her is counterproductive." Nyx shot them down.

Losing one princess was bad enough, he didn't need to risk both his charges.

The princess measured the boys asking for help and found their current behavior troubling...

Ander and Hanh Zamia were among the many that consistently glared and muttered about her whenever she entered the main shopping district.

The young males were in charge of the town weapon shop and often did miscellaneous errands for the older citizens. She'd witnessed their behavior during those runs and Hanh was acting substantially more skittish than usual. Additionally, in spite of the situation, Ander was maintaining that Nyx go home instead of assisting in a safer role like lookout or communicator.

Imperatrix hadn't known the glaive long, but she knew he'd never be satisfied with waiting while others took action. Something was amiss and she had an idea of what it was.

"Let us be off then. The longer we dally the more danger we put Lunafreya in." She spoke over the quarreling males.

"Are you nuts?!" Nyx rounded on her, forgetting about Ander trying to forcibly push him in the direction of his home. "You'll get lost and you've got no weapon."

"We have not the time." The princess pried his hand from her arm. "Find Libertus and retrace his steps. It is possible she is still in town."

If the princess's theory proved true then it was better for Nyx to obey Ander and stay out of the matter.

"Don't go giving me orders. Get back here!" He shouted to her back as she went with the brothers.

The new group of three sprinted all the way to _Venandi Forest_ , named after the main island and home to much of the game the hunters preyed on in sport or in trials of initiating young men into the ranks of warriors.

Females were granted the option of taking the trial as well, but from what she'd seen they stuck to domestic roles. Galahdian culture held strength in high regard and males as young thirteen could undertake the initiation.

The people were warriors at heart.

"How old are you, Hanh?" Imperatrix kept her tone light, eyes shifting around for threats.

Ander had ran off to search in another direction, leaving her with a sweaty, jumpy teenager.

"I'm not a child if that's what you're thinking." He startled after snapping a twig.

"No. I wondered why your brother left you alone with me. Or why he would risk you in the first place."

"I can take care of myself, I'm not helpless! I passed the hunter's trial." Hanh whipped out a hammer from his belt and pointed it at her in a manner that was meant to be threatening, but lacked any real aggression. "D-Don't try anything funny, Imperial."

"Harming you is not my goal."

"R-Right. Finding Lunafreya is…" He twitched uncomfortably at her non-confrontational attitude.

Visibility became poor as the last light of sunlight vanished.

Imperatrix tensed and turned on a flashlight she'd been loaned. Hanh's breathing deepened and he snapped at the princess any time she made an effort to mollify his fear or suggest he return to town while she continued to search.

They went further in, arriving at a clearing.

"You must have been no older than five or six when imperial forces descended on Galahd." Imperatrix flicked the flashlight around, surveying the camping ground. She abstained from anymore subtlety. "You and Ander are orphans, as many in this village are. Retribution must have been your minds for many years."

The camp ground was open enough for a frontal attack. The shrubbery and tents would provide cover for long-range attacks.

The village didn't posses many fighters, as they joined the Kingsglaive, but the elders she'd seen could still do battle.

The camping ground would become a battlefield. Imperatrix was sure of this.

"They didn't attack…they slaughtered and destroyed." Hanh clenched his hammer, face emptying of emotion. "My parents hid me and Ander in the shop. Told us not to come out no matter what."

The princess faintly heard movement.

Her body tensed in anticipation and she twirled the flashlight in her hand. The object could be used to ward strikes until it broke.

"Lunafreya was never lost."

Hanh snapped back to reality, returning to his skittish self as villagers came into view. "Doesn't matter that you figured it out."

She heard arrows being knocked and a few approached with axes and swords. A decent force had been gathered to eliminate the crown princess of Niflheim.

Imperatrix almost felt honored that most the males from town were challenging her. They certainly were not underestimating her for gender.

Even without Libertus's warnings the princess had been expecting an ambush at some point.

No matter how much Nyx and Lunafreya might've reassured her of the inherent goodness or levelheadedness of the townsfolk, Imperatrix had seen over and again how anger and helplessness, coupled with loss could make monsters out of the best individuals.

Once more the princess would play scapegoat for people who'd experienced deep-seated pain and she could not fault for them for their madness.

"Kill her, Hanh! Show everyone you're a man of Galahd!" Ander yelled, breaking the oppressive hush and rousing the other's bloodlust.

The younger Zamia nearly dropped his hammer from the sudden attention.

"You do not have to do this." Imperatrix widened her stance.

The boy wasn't a threat. His heart hadn't been in this plan from the beginning.

The hidden archers were the major concern.

"Scared, _Imperial Scum_?" He spat, taking slow, unsteady steps towards her like he was a predator and the princess, the prey.

"Scared for you, yes. Your hands have not stopped shaking and likely will not."

"Don't make fun of me!" Hanh lunged and she side-stepped the blow. He rammed into the general store manager and was pushed back into the impromptu circle formed by the men. "Stand still and die!"

"Only an imbecile would do as you ask." The princess swatted his arm and he tumbled to ground, hammer lodged into the ground and useless to him.

Imperatrix felt bad for the boy. All the jeering and aggressive shouting was doing the opposite of helping.

Hanh told her he'd passed his trial so why were the villagers having him fight an opponent he clearly wasn't ready for?

Were they humiliating him? Or was this truly their idea of making him into a man?

"I should've known you weren't ready to be a warrior. That hunt was too easy!" Ander sneered at his brother.

Hanh curled in on himself as the yelling became derogatory.

The elder Zamia moved his ugly expression to Imperatrix. "And you're as arrogant as all those pigs, toying with my brother like that!"

He lifted his bow and let loose an arrow. The princess hastily leaned back to avoid the arrow striking her heart, flipping to regain her footing.

His opening shot started a free-for-all and Imperatrix was pushed to complete battle-mode, contending with frontal and aerial attacks. Her moves were restricted to defensive measures and the flashlight was quickly sliced in half and replaced with a stolen sword that she used to disarm attackers and slice arrows.

Unfortunately, a one-woman-army could only repel so many attacks. She earned nicks and cuts in various places.

Thea was going to be upset that she ruined her daughter's spare clothing...

"I've got you, Imperial!" Ander bragged as he got opening after the butcher knocked Imperatrix off balance.

His arrow got her in the shoulder. Another arrow came from above and imbedded itself in her back.

She growled and jumped back from a swing meant to decapitate her, losing her sword in the process. "Are you mad?! You were willing to shoot your comrade to get me?!"

The butcher came close to being butchered by arrows.

The princess was re-thinking her stance on nonviolence in regards to these civilians. They were actively trying to kill her and coming exceedingly close to it.

Normally, she would endure these kinds of experiences passively, but Nebula and Tempesta weren't there to provide aid.

If Imperatrix didn't fight back...they would eliminate her.

"I had a clear line of shot. I wouldn't have hit him."

"Who is being arrogant now?" She tugged out the arrow penetrating her shoulder and reached behind for the one in the back, but found it too painful to reach.

The second arrow had gone much deeper than the first.

"Quit talking! You're the one bleeding out." Ander knocked another arrow.

The villagers advanced on the wounded princess. Imperatrix reached into her boot, fingering the hilt of her dagger and praying that these people wouldn't force her hand.

She'd be back to square one with Nyx and Lunafreya if she spilled blood here.

"This is for everyone that died in the attack." Ander said what all his people were thinking, fingers poised to fly the final bird.

The sound of unnatural growling and sudden miasma polluting the air stopped the attack.

Everyone froze.

"Daemons!"

Imperatrix's blood turned to ice as two Iron Giants roared and swung their claymores, decimating the camp in one swoop. People screamed and abandoned all sense of logic, fleeing back to the village.

Except for two males.

"Hanh, what're you doing?! Get up and run!" Ander screeched, tugging relentlessly at his motionless brother. "Hanh! Got damn you!"

If the boy struggled to face the princess, then expecting him to function in the presence of two Iron Giants was illogical.

Imperatrix ran to the brothers and yanked on Hanh's other arm. "He is in shock, drag him!"

"Get away from him, Scum!" The elder brother hissed, juggling between moving the younger Zamia and striking at the princess with his bow.

"This is not the time!"

One giant slammed its blade on the ground, disrupting Imperatrix and Ander's balance. The other daemon advanced on them.

Hanh began shaking and crying, entering an episode of hysteria.

They would not be able to escape like this.

"Give me your sword." The princess commanded, standing upright and wincing from the broken arrow still imbedded in her shoulder. The fall had lodged it in further.

"You're insane!" He put a protective hand over the blade he hadn't drawn in the fight.

"Give me your weapon and flee with your brother!" She repeated in a tone that annulled any further arguments.

"Y-You're sacrificing yourself for us?" Ander's snarl marginally subsided, confusion taking the forefront. "Niffs…don't…"

"I am providing a distraction. I will not fall to these beasts." Imperatrix corrected him, holding out her hand expectantly.

Speed and evasiveness was her play once more. But twice the effort was required now.

One hit from either foe would shatter every bone in her body.

The princess greatly missed her equipment. She was constantly on the defense when she should be on the offense!

"Whatever. Take it then if you wanna die so bad!" Ander tossed his sword at her and hefted Hanh onto his shoulder.

Imperatrix twirled the blade, testing its weight before she met her enemies.

The daemons smashed their feet on the ground in irritation as the brothers escaped. The miasma grew thicker and their bodies glowed from magic surging inside them.

The princess charged at one before it could attack, jumping onto its sword and climbing up the beast. It roared and tried to swipe her off.

"You giants may be strong, but you lack intelligence." Imperatrix slashed at the foe's neck, dismayed that the sword couldn't penetrate the daemon's skin. "Improvisation it is then."

She stabbed the blade into the giant's neck and ducked as the other slashed its blade, slicing its twin diagonally from neck to chest. The princess held tightly to the pommel as her kill moved wildly from the assault.

The giants battered at each other, one in an effort to kill Imperatrix, and the other in defense of itself. The dangling woman wouldn't have to do anything as the giants essentially destroyed themselves.

Unfortunately, her injuries became too much and she lost her grip. The landing to the ground ignited the pain ten-fold and her vision swam.

"Ifrit preserve me, this hurts worse than a bullet..." Imperatrix breathed through the pain, rolling off her back and reaching back to inspect the wound.

The arrow was practically inside her back at this point.

The giants took notice of the whimpering princess and stopped fighting.

Those glowing eyes filled her with fear.

"I believe I have stalled long enough for them!" She sprung to her feet and made a dash for it.

To her shock, the Iron Giants were faster than they appeared and were right on the princess's heels.

She pushed harder to stay ahead of them and out of the reach of the claymores, swinging dangerously behind her. Trees fell in lieu of Imperatrix and one massive tree ended up falling directly in her path.

The daemon's wreckage cut off her escape routes and left the princess pinched between nature and the creatures of the night.

"I must find a way!" Imperatrix wouldn't give up.

Crawling over the fallen tree was feasible, but the giants would smash her in the delay...

"Duck, Princess!"

She obeyed and arrows descended on the Iron Giants, providing enough of a distraction for the villagers to emerge in a fury and attack them.

The previous people responsible for her current situation were now coming to her aid.

What a twist of fate!

"Wait, your attacks will not work!" Imperatrix warned them in vain.

The men kept up their attacks on the daemons, not wounding, but annoying the adversaries.

"Fear not, they will." Lunafreya appeared in the distance with Nyx and Libertus.

The oracle raised her hand and bright light illuminated the area, driving back the miasma. The daemons cried and recoiled from the light, becoming vulnerable to attacks.

"Everybody give'm hell!" Libertus leaped over the fallen tree and hurled an axe that got a giant in the stomach. He held out a hand to Imperatrix, helping her over the obstacle. "They did a real number on you..."

"The giants did worse." She mindlessly assuaged his guilt.

Neither he nor Nyx were to blame for the actions of their neighbors.

"Don't downplay what happened! You're bleeding all over!"

A whistle from Ander stationed in a tree got their attention. "Libertus, we could use those meat-arms of yours!"

"Shut your face, brat! You're lucky I don't knock your teeth in." He grouched, waving his arm threateningly.

Libertus had been ready to strangle the boy and the whole lot of cowards.

How did grocery shopping with Lunafreya turn into him being drugged, tied-down, and locked in a storage room? The ex-glaive could vaguely recall how he got to that point.

The boys invited him for drinks and the oracle sent him off after their taunts of Libertus babysitting Lunafreya got under her skin.

For a dainty, little girl the blonde could be snarky when she wanted.

Things got hazy for him after the fourth or fifth bear he chugged down. Ander and the old timers were out a drinking partner after this.

"We'll settle things later. Focus on the daemons!" Nyx instructed, struggling with his own bow and arrow.

His shots weren't on point since he couldn't move his right arm entirely the way he wanted, but that didn't stop him from firing, not when people he'd known since childhood were fighting for their lives in front of him.

"They are weakening, I can sense it." Lunafreya scrunched up her face in concentration, maintaining the light magic to the best of her ability.

She'd never used her powers in this manner and it was far more draining than healing.

"That's my cue then." Libertus joined the fray.

The others made way for the battle-seasoned warrior and supported him where they could.

"Get down here, Princess!" Nyx impatiently tapped his hand on the tree to snap her out of a daze. He kept it aloft for the princess to grab.

He'd been furious after realizing Ander and Hanh played him. Lunafreya had never gone missing, she was safe and sound with his mom the entire time.

While he went on a useless hunt, Imperatrix had been hurt by people he trusted to do the right thing. Clearly, he thought too highly of the lot.

What kind of man would attack an unarmed woman? One that wasn't resisting or putting up a fight?

At his worst, Nyx only bruised the princess and despite his threats in Insomnia, he wouldn't have killed her.

They were all on his shit list now.

"I can get down myself…" Imperatrix stumbled right into Nyx's arms.

Were he not prepared, they would've tipped over.

"Evidently not." The glaive steadied her and tried to keep the anger out of his voice as he made light of the situation. "Or is this you falling for me once more?"

This was the second time he was seeing her unfairly trashed. It didn't sit right with him...

"You can only dream of that possibility." She retorted, not liking how his arms were the only thing keeping her upright.

The adrenaline was wearing off and Imperatrix felt every gash, every bruise, every strained muscle, and the hole in her back.

The battle drew to a close with the combined might of Libertus's axes and Lunafreya's magic. The daemons disappeared with a final cry, taking their poisonous miasma with them.

"What're you doing?! What have I said about manhandling me?!" The princess pushed against Nyx as he picked her up as one would a new bride.

"I'm not _manhandling_ you, I'm being considerate since you can't stand straight."

"You have no right to hold me so intimately! And how is this wise with your arm?"

He fixed her with a rakish grin that always wonover woman. "I can either carry you like a princess, or throw you over my shoulder like potatoes. Take your pick."

No way in Eos was Nyx allowing the princess to walk back in her condition. Yeah, his arm hurt from shooting and she wasn't light, but he could deal with a little pain to keep Imperatrix from fainting from blood loss.

"Enjoy playing the part of a steed then, Ulric." She ceased her exertions and closed her eyes, ignoring the grinning fool.

"Aww, look who's blushing. The stoic princess can be _as_ _adorable_ _as a chocobo_. Who'd have known?"

Imperatrix scoffed at the disgusting baby-talk, mentally willing her skin back to normal. "Do not compare me to those _creatures_."

He scoffed right back to mock her. "I'm sorry, _as_ _adorable_ _as a dragon_ since that's your family's coat of arms."

Lunafreya's relieved cry concluded their banter.

She briefly touched the princess's arm, sorrowfully examining the older woman. "I am relieved to see you. I feared the worst..."

The oracle promised safety to Imperatrix and failed to uphold that vow. She should've done more. Spoken to the townsfolk or accompanied the princess.

Was Lunafreya naive to believe that the strong and rough townsfolk she'd come to like wouldn't give in to temptation and harm someone undeserving of their rage?

It was her duty to see the best in people at all times, but had that optimism blinded her?

Things were never going to be as simple and easy as they once were in Tenebrae...

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What is this place?" Lunafreya tilted her head, regarding the neon sign with curiosity.

 _Hypnosis_ sounded mysterious.

"This pub is my baby. I think we all need a drink after the last few days." Nyx proudly smiled at the establishment he'd started up with Libertus.

At the time, his mom had vehemently opposed the place, thinking it to be a place for him to pick up girls and get wasted every night. It took a lot of convincing to get her on board with him owning a bar.

"This is our last night so lets end it right."

"I am more than willing to indulge in this." The liquid fire of alcohol would dull the throbbing Imperatrix felt in every movement.

The arrow had been extremely painful to remove.

Thea had the time of her life watching the princess squirm and groan during the process. The woman hadn't been gentle about it either.

If Imperatrix had known the woman was going to be so brutal, she'd have taken her chances with Nyx since he had experience taking out arrows. His clumsiness would've been preferable to his mother's dark amusement.

The princess was nearing her limit of patience for dealing with the people of Galahd.

"Knew _you_ wouldn't say no." Nyx flicked his head at Lunafreya for confirmation.

"I do not mind."

"Whew, thought I was gonna have to convince you. Already had a bunch of persuasive arguments ready." The glaive opened the locked door with his key from home. "Welcome to _Hypnosis_ , ladies."

The inside was reminiscent of a tavern. All kinds of pictures hung on the walls. Pool tables were off to the side. All the tables and booths were empty, save for the one nearest to the bar.

Upbeat music played lowly in the background.

"Finally, some girls to liven this place up!" Libertus raised his pitcher in greeting.

"C'mon, you're supposed to wait for us." Nyx snatched the pitcher and stole a swing. He coughed and handed it back. "Geez, who hits the hard stuff first?"

"I'm no lightweight like you, Nyx. I need something strong in my system!" The ex-glaive laughed, already buzzed and finding everything funny.

"It's not about being a lightweight, it's about building up to the good stuff."

"I don't need your formula-drinking. I keep it simple."

"Well, slow down for the rest of us to join." Nyx pulled out two chairs and offered them to the females.

"Not a chance! Either I get shit-faced or I'm liable to smash heads. Those guys won't leave me alone."

"I hear you…those idiots."

The guys that attacked Imperatrix had been hounding Nyx and Libertus to justify themselves, but neither of them wanted to hear any of the excuses.

The two Kingsglaive members became black sheep for aiding an imperial by coercing people to go back to the forest on the night of the attack. Them cursing out anyone who so much as looked at the princess wrong didn't help either.

"There will not be anymore…incidents, will there?" Lunafreya demurely folded her hands in her lap.

The thought of standing before an angry mob frightened her, not because she was afraid of danger, but because she couldn't bear looking the villagers in the eye.

The oracle could easily imagine herself in their place were this Tenebrae and Iedolas stood before her.

It was wrong for her to have such dark thoughts...

Lunafreya, try as she might, couldn't stamp out her shortcomings. They were what made her human, but she was an oracle first...

"Those punks are holed up in their houses, tails tucked between their legs. Nothing's happening now." Libertus set his drink a little too hard on the table, sloshing the liquid on the table.

Nyx yelped from the spill getting on him. "Really, man? If you break that pitcher you're replacing it!"

The ex-glaive burped in the middle of a laugh. "I own half this place. I can break anything I want!"

"That's your cue for water." He seized the pitcher and stood up, addressing the girls. "I'm gonna make some drinks for us. Don't mind anything this oaf does or says."

"I don't need water, I need some more booze!"

Lunafreya jumped in her seat from Libertus slapping the table with enough force to shake it. Imperatrix stabilized the tilting table on instinct and chuckled.

"You have never encountered a drunk before? Surely Furia put on a show once or twice?"

Her sister's teenage years were filled with late night partying, the kind that if not stopped by Imperatrix or an attendant, would end up in the newspaper.

The second princess was the source of sixty percent of the family's scandals.

"Ravus takes her away when she gets like that…and she is not loud..." Lunafreya pressed her finger to her lip in thought. "I would even say that compared to her usual energetic behavior, Furia is almost mellow when intoxicated."

"Your perspective of my sister is…skewed." Imperatrix chose her words carefully.

It could be that in the time she'd been married, the second princess's behavior changed.

Between Tempesta and Furia, the princess wasn't sure who was the rowdier drunk. For two small girls they could cause quite the trouble.

"How so?"

"For one-"

"Who are you guys talking about?" Libertus inserted himself into the conversation, but then shook his head, determining that the previous topic didn't interest him. "Now that I think about it, are you even legal to drink? You look like someone's teenage sister."

The oracle chilled at the remarks to her youthful visage. "I am twenty-four."

He bobbed his head. "Have you ever tried alcohol before?"

"I have...consumed ceremonial wine..." The icy stare fizzled as Lunafreya defended herself against Libertus's strange mixture of a pity-look and sniggering. "It is unwise for a spiritual leader to indulge too heavily in spirits. The oracle must be of a clear mind and body to serve the people."

"Tonight, you get to be incredibly unwise! I'm gonna get you absolutely hammered into the next century." A devilish air overtook him. "Think of it as a right-of-passage into adulthood."

"Not too drunk. Walking is necessary for tomorrow." Imperatrix reminded and then reclined in her seat, giving the go-ahead for the ex-glaive.

She was intrigued to find out what kind of drunk Lunafreya would fall into.

A prim, proper, and innocent girl on the surface could actually be a wild soul demanding to be let free. If the princess were to judge based on family, then the oracle would be a mopey one.

Ravus, when deep into a good bottle of wine, bemoaned all his problems and insecurities to nearest person available, which usually tended to be Imperatrix, as the commander kept mostly to himself. Those episodes were how the princess could look past all his sour posturing to see the despondent man in desperate need of a friend and confidant.

However, with how repressed Lunafreya's life had been, she was fairly certain the oracle would be a catastrophic mess on par with Tempesta and Furia.

The only question left was, would she be a violent or boisterous drunk?

"Drinks are here, people." Nyx passed around a variety of alcoholic beverages.

He twisted his chair around to lean on the back section.

"Why'd you give her a kiddie drink?! The Imperial Princess and me want to see the kid smashed!" Libertus raged at the frilly cocktail like it was at fault.

The blue beverage mixed with cotton candy was something Nyx created and named _Selena's Mix_.

It was a drink option the ex-glaive despised. Customers cracked jokes about it all the time to the point that Libertus started decking people that accused him of being girly for having it on the menu.

It wasn't him insisting on including that weak crap on their line-up.

"Didn't see that coming. Aren't you supposed to be the _reliable-older-sister_ _type_ , Imperatrix?" Nyx took a swig of his drink and groaned at the burn in his throat. "Why am I becoming the responsible one? This was my idea."

" _Big Sister_ knows when to let loose." The princess gingerly sipped at her Amaretto Sour.

Nyx had prepared their drinks without asking for preferences.

"You clearly do not have the same concern for me." Her drink had plenty of fruit mixed in to combat the sour taste.

Did he chose this in light of her eating habits?

The Amaretto was crafted masterfully and if she wasn't careful, a blitz would be upon her. Drinks like this snuck up on people and had them riding sudden highs.

"I know you can handle yourself, that's why I didn't bother with a light course."

"I will pretend that is the only reason, Ulric."

He snorted into his cup. "Hey now, I'm perfectly capable of seducing a sober woman."

"So you admit to this being a pass?"

Nyx grinned. "Woman, you've been making passes at me all week. Falling straight into my arms whenever you get the chance."

Imperatrix colored. "I have not-"

"I do not require a handicap!" Lunafreya burst out, drawing the glaive and princess's attention. She'd been trying to get their focus since Nyx mentioned a lighter course for her. "I did mention that I am familiar with alcohol."

"I distinctly heard the words _ceremonial wine_." He corrected her. "Hence, the Bellini. My choice, as a _licensed_ _bartender_ for _starters_."

She wordlessly chugged down the Bellini to prove him wrong. The glaive sighed in return.

"That's more like it! You go, future queen!" Libertus bellowed, pushing his Kamikaze towards the oracle. His water left unattended. "Try this next. Do it in one go if you can."

Nyx and Imperatrix both objected that course of action, but Lunafreya would hear none of it.

She repeated her earlier accomplishment and coughed afterwards from her burning throat. Her smug look was ruined by the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Yes, yes! I take back my skepticism, you're a pro, girlie." The ex-glaive vigorously shook the oracle.

"I did not just see Lady Lunafreya, the _freaking oracle of Tenebrae_ , throw back vodka like a seasoned man and not pass out." Nyx muttered in disbelief, looking to Imperatrix for feedback.

"I can hardly believed it either..." She whispered back, pondering if she'd made a mistake in encouraging this behavior.

Unmindful of the whispering and on a high from Libertus's good cheer, Lunafreya slid her glass to Nyx. "Another, please?"

His jaw dropped and he wondered if he'd stepped into another dimension. Dainty girls did not drink hardcore like this.

"I don't know…I'm really at a loss here…" A hysterical part of Nyx wanted to laugh.

A shot and a cocktail had reduced the oracle to a quivering mess and she was valiantly trying to appear unaffected in an effort to prove everyone wrong.

The old citadel-soldier in him was balking at how they were corrupting a girl heralded as a spiritual leader.

Nyx was surely going to be burned in hellfire for this.

"I would like another and not the original one you gave me." Lunafreya stressed, stubbornness rearing its head again.

"Alright, alright." He gave in, finishing his Black Velvet before the girl could steal it. "I'm going to be struck by lightning or set on fire for this."

The glaive grumbled all the way to the bar.

"I see you have not finished yours." The oracle challenged the princess, blinking back the tears.

"It is not meant to be inhaled. Intoxicants must be consumed in moderation." Imperatrix demonstrated her point to the confrontational girl. "It would be prudent for you to slow down, Lunafreya. You will not like what happens in the morning if not."

"I thought you wanted her hammered? Don't ruin the fun!"

She squinted her eyes at Libertus. "You wished to see her blitzed, I wanted to see her buzzed. Did I not specify she needs to be able to walk tomorrow?"

"Gah, stop with the fancy words! It's giving me a headache." He ruffled his messy hair.

"If words confound you, then that water should be used."

"Water's for puss-"

The princess hushed him with her hand. "No, no, no. None of that offensive language."

"Offensive? Was he not referring to a cat?" Lunafreya touched her forehead after the others began to sway.

Or was she swaying? Her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Not...in that context." Imperatrix's hand remained on Libertus's mouth as he tried to continue his previous exclamation. "Pay no heed to it."

The ex-glaive kicked at the princess's chair in frustration and she detached her hand from his face.

"I need you to get caught up with the rest of us. If you're not done with that drink in thirty seconds, I'm force-feeding it to you." He demanded.

"This is not a competition." She twitched at the threat.

"That's what losers say, eh Nyx?"

"You've got no room to talk. Crowe and I outdrank you all the time." He set the next round of shots on the table. "They're right though, you've been draining that glass too long. Finish it already!"

"Why will none of you let me enjoy it at my leisure?" The princess mumbled mutinously.

As Imperatrix lifted the glass, Nyx tilted it upward with his finger and forced her to chug more. Her eyes slanted in vexation, but she didn't slap his hand away. He didn't let up until the glass was emptied of its contents.

"You try my patience, Glaive!"

Nyx groaned as if struck.

"Demoted, huh? Will this earn your forgiveness, Princess?" He held out a new beverage.

"Oh, my…you are trying very hard." Imperatrix gratefully accepted the Platinum Passion, an expensive gift she didn't expect to find in a local bar.

A glass in Niflheim could cost a noble fifteen-hundred gil, and a bottle, six- thousand.

"I have no choice but to forgive you, Ulric."

Such a gift was probably meant as an apology.

"Uh, I think a little more gratitude is warranted. That stuff is not cheap."

She halted in tasting the cocktail and smirked knowingly.

"I know that look and it's not what you think." Nyx rested his chin on his arm and grinned lazily at the princess. "You have to call me Nyx."

The princess chuckled, humming in approval after tasting all the delightful favors of her drink. "Your request is granted, _Nyx_."

"And you can't kill anybody in town…even though they kind of deserve it."

"Granted."

"And you've gotta start working with me instead spouting off orders. I'm not one of your flunkies." Nyx leaned back on his chair, tilting at an angle. "We're gonna have to rely on each other if this gang is gonna work."

Imperatrix nodded, recognizing that she'd been insensitively dismissive of him due to his injuries. Nyx's recovery was going well and he'd be back in fighting shape in the near future.

"Granted."

He decided to ride out the game just to see how the princess would react. "And you've gotta give me a kiss like princess's are supposed to do for their rescuers."

She sputtered. "Denied!"

"Is that a _hard no_ or a _I-need-to-convince-you_ kind of no?" Nyx set the chair back to a normal position.

" _A hard no._ Try again when you can actually fight and play the part of rescuer." Imperatrix regained her composure. "Going off your logic, Libertus is more my rescuer than you. I recall you playing the part of _steed_."

He sighed in mock disappointment. "Shot down so harshly! Maybe I should've gotten you drunk for this to work."

"Might have helped you."

They both jumped after Libertus broke a glass and Lunafreya blinked uncomprehendingly at her ruined dress.

The ex-glaive laughed it off and seized another shot. The oracle shrugged and continued blabbering about the extraordinariness of her dogs and with him listened intently as if he'd never heard anything more interesting.

The alcohol was really starting to hit them.

"Did you know what they had planned?" Nyx became serious.

"I had an idea…I underestimated how many would involve themselves." Imperatrix responded in equal severity.

"Why did you go with them then?" He set his glass down with a little too much force, cracking the glass. "Why didn't you say something?"

"What good would it have done?"

Imperatrix had been through situations like that before.

Stopping an ambush before it happened lead to the offenders repeating it on a larger scale. All-out repression resulted in the people stewing in hatred for the rest of lives.

Allowing them to vent in one controlled situation brought about change.

Most importantly, when the people saw that the imperial princess refused to take up arms against them and stood by nonaggressive responses, they eventually softened. Then the first steps toward harmony could be taken.

By not bearing them any malice, Imperatrix became not a figment of hate, but a figure of hope. A balm on a wounded city.

Nebula often bemoaned her tactics as masochistic and inapt for a princess.

How was it smart to purposely endanger herself just to assuage a few people?

Riots, kidnappings, and ambushes should be punished with death in his opinion. He was of the mindset that she was deranged for disassociating from her predecessor's more tyrannical methods.

Neither Imperatrix nor her father wanted to be known as tyrants. Despot rulers found themselves murdered well before their times.

"Are you serious? Don't be the stupid one of the group." Nyx jerked his finger at Lunafreya, who was still taking shots with Libertus. "She gets that job, not you."

"Why is that? Do you find her that inexperienced?"

The shot takers weren't the only ones buzzed. The glaive wouldn't crudely insult two princesses in one instance if he were sober.

"She's not that bad…just really... _young and dumb_. The early twenties is when you think you can do anything with no consequences." He sloppily gestured between himself and Imperatrix. "We're too old for all that! It's annoying, but we're going to have to be the example-setters."

" _Do as I say, not as I do_. That's going to be difficult to follow on this trip..." Imperatrix rubbed her temple. The slow drinks were kicking in. "How can we tell that girl not to be reckless, when we flirt so openly with death, you and I?"

The glaive deflated as he registered the truth of her words.

He nearly died on a daily basis. Going on an adventure with two high-profile members of royalty wasn't likely to decrease that statistic.

"Shit…you're right!" Nyx lowered his head back onto his arm. "Ugh, and I try so hard not to be a hypocrite."

"At some point we all become a mess of contradictions." She began eating the fruits from her previous glass.

"So philosophical..." The glaive raised his glass for a toast, getting some of the beverage on the floor. "To being hypocrites then!"

Imperatrix clinked hers against his, snickering at the absurdity.

Where had the conversation gone?

He had just been on the verge of reprimanding her and now they were making a pact to essentially "parent" Lunafreya.

"You two are so amicable! Not too long ago, you both were prepared to kill the other." Lunafreya slurred, pointing brazenly at her comrades huddled together on the other side of the table.

Where did they get off being so familiar?!

Nyx righted his chair and re-established space between him and the princess. "Isn't that what you want? For us to be chummy? Comrades don't try to kill each other."

"Yes, but…" She wobbled in her chair, blue eyes vacantly seeing past him. "Libertus just explained to me that you two have been flirting all this time. Not disagreeing like I thought! Why is flirting so complicated?!"

Lunafreya was plastered.

"Because adults can't be honest." Nyx snorted as he processed everything. "I can't believe you needed someone to explain that you."

"Stop treating me like a child, I am a grown woman!" Lunafreya jumped out of her seat and stomped her foot.

She didn't present the best image with her stained dress, askew hair, and flushed face.

Nyx and Libertus guffawed, furthering the wasted blonde's indignation.

"Stop it. Stop it this instant!"

Imperatrix covered her mouth to obscure the goofy smile she was sporting. Lunafreya was a delightful mess!

So Ravus's little sister fell into the category of a belligerent drunk.

The shouting and laughter came to an end after the oracle tripped out of her heels and the princess had to comfort the girl. Lunafreya swapped from angry to sad, crying at the unfairness of it all.

The boys couldn't get enough of the spectacle.

"Can you make it back with her?" Nyx supported most of Libertus's weight and cursed the man for being so heavy.

The ex-glaive was too drunk to walk home on his own.

"Good grief no, but do I have a choice?" Imperatrix clenched her jaw as Lunafreya wriggled on her back, agitating the wound.

The oracle was too old for piggyback rides, but this what they'd been reduced to after the teary tirade ended.

Tomorrow morning the princess was going to take a potion, she couldn't deal with the pain and the aftereffects of alcohol.

"I wish I could take a picture of this!" Nyx grinned widely. "I'm never going to look at Lunafreya the same."

"None of us will..."

The princess shifted her charge, lamenting her current circumstances.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Stay alive, boy! I better not turn on the radio and hear about you dying in a blaze of glory! And get that phone replaced and call home. And keep your hands-"

"Mom! I get it." Nyx said before things could get weird.

Thea scowled at her son, slapping him upside the head. "Don't interrupt me!"

"Yes, Ma'm." He grunted.

Would it kill her to say goodbye like a normal person?

The girls were waiting for him in the boat. It was time for them to move onto the next part in their journey.

"Come back home when you can, Nyx." Thea hugged her boy close, wishing he'd go back to being a tiny tot.

"I promise I'll be back when this is all over."

She steeled herself and let go of the last member of her family.

Libertus stepped forward and held out his hand.

"We don't need to draw this out. I've got proof you'll come back."

"Yeah, you do." Nyx took the hand and shook.

His other kukri remained with Libertus as a vow between brothers. They would always come back home.

His father's old hunting bow would serve as the glaive's main weapon until his arm healed and he could be back in the thick of battle.

"Well, I should…let you go…"

"Yeah…"

Libertus caved, hugging Nyx and blaming his blubbering on his hangover. The glaive chortled, playing along with the lie so the big oaf could save face.

This was goodbye for a good while.

"Uh, excuse me, Imperial Princess?"

Imperatrix took her eyes off the hugging males to focus on the newly arrived Zamia brothers. She hadn't seen either since the attack.

"I-I wanted to…to…" The younger brother floundered and found himself being shoved out the way by Ander.

"Why did you help us? It's been bugging me." He got straight to point.

Lunafreya groaned at the noise level and buried her face in Pryna's fur.

Everything was too loud and bright!

The princess stepped out the boat to engage the brothers. "To answer your question, I assisted because you were in danger."

"That can't be it. You're plotting something." Ander refused to believe that the imperial princess would help anyone.

Niffs were savages that destroyed and killed!

"Expecting us to lower our guards now because you helped? Then when you leave the MTs descend on us? Another slaughter for the Niffs?"

"Ander, that's not-"

"Shut up, Hanh!"

The younger brother shrunk from the reprimand.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Ander sneered at Imperatrix.

She smirked at the seething boy.

His anger was a transparent display to hide a toxic mix of gratitude and regret. His sneer couldn't even be considered a sneer, more like a confused frown.

"You are wrong on two accounts."

The wind was knocked of Ander's sail. "What?"

"I never utilize MTs, I find them abhorrent. Secondly, I expect you, your brother, and all who attacked me to get stronger."

"Who are you calling weak?! We had you!"

"Collectively as a group, you managed to wound me, but it took half your fighters to do so. That is…mediocre for a village of hunters."

She wouldn't criticize them for falling to pieces in front of a daemon, let alone two. Even seasoned warriors trembled and fell to Iron Giants.

Enemies of that caliber required magic from deposits, great amounts of light, or magitek to best. Were it not for Lunafreya, taking down two daemons would have been impossible that night.

Ander went red in the face from what he perceived as more arrogance. Hanh timidly reasserted himself in his bother's line of sight, not wanting things to escalate.

"She didn't hurt any of us, remember? She was jumping all over instead of attacking." He lowered his eyes miserably and kicked at the wooden dock. "Especially me…"

Hanh really wasn't ready to be a warrior. Tracking and killing a smaller-than-average Garula didn't entitle him to anything.

His weakness the entire night proved that.

"But…" The older brother became tongue-tied.

"Hanh." He looked at the princess's call. "You are not a terrible fighter. What you lack is confidence. Obtain that and the rest will follow naturally."

"Y-You think?" He perked up and then remembered why he came here at all. "I-I was trying to apologize earlier. It wasn't right to attack you."

Imperatrix laid her hand on the boy's shoulder and smiled gently.

"I forgive you, Hanh." She turned to Ander, knowing an apology wouldn't come from him, but still choosing to take necessary step towards something greater. "I forgive all that has transpired these few days."

The princess would continue to follow an old lesson imparted by her mother.

Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you. Those were words to live by.

"You're so different from what I had in my head." Hanh muttered, stupefied by the woman he'd talked himself into hating.

He felt really bad for thinking up ways to kill her just cause Ander told him to.

"Many people are once give the chance to express themselves." Imperatrix leaned closer to him, smile becoming melancholic. "I cannot give back what was taken from you, and nothing I do will ever erase that pain, but I ask that you do not drown in hate for the rest of your life. It is _poison_ to youth."

The younger Zamia teared up and she squeezed his shoulder. "You're so different…I can't believe I almost…"

"It's so easy for you to say all that fancy crap." Ander snarled from his impressionable brother's blubbering.

How dare he cling to their parent's murderer!

So what if she helped them? It was her fault for everything!

"You haven't lost anything! You've got it made in that ivory tower!"

"How wrong you are…" Imperatrix let go of Hanh, hiding how much the elder Zamia's words struck her.

She'd lost much…

A tense exchange passed as Nyx approached. Ander exclaimed in frustration before grabbing his brother and leaving.

"May we please depart? I do not think the sea agrees with me today..." Lunafreya weakly raised her head.

She'd missed the entire exchange.

"As the lady commands." Nyx tipped his head and took the front seat, not bringing up what he'd witnessed.

At least Imperatrix got some kind of apology.

The princess returned to her seat and began rowing with the glaive.

Pryna whined, pulling away from her sick owner. Lunafreya double her efforts of hiding in the dog's fur and blocking out everything.

"First hangovers are the worst, aren't they?" Nyx asked rhetorically.

The oracle meant to hum in acknowledgement, but it came out as an undignified grunt. She blushed in mortification.

"Perhaps next time you will heed my advice? It is not give to belittle." Imperatrix rubbed the sick girl's back before reaching into a bag for the canteen. "Drink and keep yourself hydrated."

Lunafreya lifted her head to accept the help. The water settled nicely in her empty stomach.

"Thank-" She pushed away from Pryna to lean over the side of the boat.

Bile expelled from her throat. The oracle wanted to cry, she'd been vomiting since awakening.

Why had no one explained to her the ramifications of drinking?!

Ravus had told her in passing that consuming too much alcohol would leave her bedridden and she assumed that meant exhausted, not sick.

The agony!

"I should have stopped you after the flush entered your cheeks..." The princess pulled Lunafreya's hair out of her face.

Nyx studiously kept his eyes forward and rowed, offering a modicum of decorum to the girls. He also didn't want to be brought to nausea from seeing Lunafreya vomit.

The sound alone was making him sick.

"M-My choices are my o-own." She managed to utter in between retching and gasping for breath.

Imperatrix shushed her and maintained a firm grip on the girl to keep her from tipping overboard. Pryna frantically barked at her owner's distress.

"Why are princesses so stubborn?" The glaive posed to the sky.

More importantly, why were these two particular ones ruining his image of a princess?

Nyx might've bitten off more than he could chew.


	7. Chapter 7

I thought I would provide a guide of translations for a few quotes that pop up in the story. I'm bringing in the headcannon that there are multiple languages spoken in Eos. The major ones are as following:

Niflheim- **Latin**

Tenebrae- **French**

Accordo- **Italian**

Lucis- **English**

The phrases that appear in this chapter and will probably be reocurring, are:

 **Aeternum Vale** \- Farewell, farewell forever. Used in the story as an honroable send off to the fallen.

 **Veni, Vidi, Vici** \- I came, I saw, I conquered. The family motto of the Aldercapt dynasty.

Thank you for the reviews, I love hearing from you all! Enjoy this monster of a chapter that I completely didn't expect to come out so long.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"How far are we from civilization?" Nyx groaned, swatting at his sweaty neck, drawing his hand back, and finding a squished insect on his hand.

It was unbearably hot despite the area being tame in forestry instead of dry, barren, land like the first stretch of their journey on foot.

Imperatrix stopped walking, withdrew the map and compass, and examined their position. "Another three days at this pace and we should reach Coernix Station. Though, as I pointed out-"

"No. No way are we stopping at a Niff base!" The glaive interjected and regretted the harshness of his words when the princess stiffened. "H-Hey, that came out wrong…"

She folded up the map and slowed her pace to walk beside the lagging Lunafreya and dogs.

Umbra's return lifted the oracle's spirits at the beginning of their long march, but the novelty of the reunion wore off after the third day of walking. The airship's core finally overheated and no amount of improvised maintenance from the princess could bring the ship back online.

They'd been forced to continue on foot.

The princess and glaive were more accustomed to these kinds of setbacks, but Lunafreya was struggling to keep up. It was obvious the girl was miserable from the blisters and sores she gained from trying to walk in heels and the mild sunburn coloring her now tanned skin.

Imperatrix did what she could to mitigate the problems, switching the heels for flats, applying creams, and providing an ear should the oracle want to talk.

The mindset of luxury and comfort was something Lunafreya was going to have to get over since she insisted on reaching Altissa.

By the time they reached the city of water, all thoughts of a wedding would probably be forgotten, unless the prince waited for an uncertain bride to appear...

"Are you alright? Do you need water?" The princess reached out to keep the girl from tripping over her feet.

At this point, the girl was on automatic.

Their supplies were running low. They needed to be carefully rationed, but...that mattered little if the main component of the group dropped dead.

This was Lunafreya's quest and she needed to see it through.

"I am…fine…" She said softly.

"Drink this." Imperatrix offered her canteen since it probably contained more water.

The oracle accepted it after a few moments and weakly raised it to her lips.

"T-Thank y-you…"

An entire two weeks of walking, fighting, more walking, making camp, eating, and then finally sleeping, only to repeat the cycle had chipped brutally at Lunafreya's dignity and will.

Never before had she wished so strongly to return to the place she viewed as a prison for so many years...

At night she longed for the comfort of her bed and the familiarity of the stars shinning outside her window. A pitiful part of her even missed Ravus's smothering habit of pestering her on her health and making sure there was nothing or anyone to cause distress.

The elder Fleuret wasn't the kindest brother and Fenestala Manor hadn't felt like home since their mother's death, but in this burning heat and with aches throughout her body, Lunafreya could admit that she was decidedly homesick for both.

The oracle prayed that her brother was alive and that his tortured soul would someday find catharsis...

"Is something wrong? I heard Nyx shout at you." Lunafreya handed the canteen back to its owner and quickened her pace, shelving further thoughts on Ravus.

"Merely the same argument we have been having for the past two days." Imperatrix sighed.

The oracle winced for her part in the dispute, like Nyx, she didn't wish to visit the military base.

"I understand _his_ reservations with my suggestion. He is a soldier, of course he would not be on board with venturing into enemy territory." The princess chose not to mention her previous conundrum with Galahd to the two, knowing the hotheads wouldn't appreciate it. " _You_ stand a civilian and a citizen of the empire, there is no reason for you to expect hostility."

How could Lunafreya explain her reasoning without sounding childish?

In her most assured voice she uttered. "I sense ill tidings from there. Were it not for my premonition I would trust your judgement."

The oracle hadn't dreamed of anything specific in regards to the Norduscaen Base, but her intuition sang of danger and destruction. She didn't wish to ignore senses bestowed to her by the gods, not when they hadn't led her astray.

"There is danger all around us, shall we cower in fear for the duration of our lives? We cannot afford to pass up this opportunity." Imperatrix tried not to lose her temper, persuading Lunafreya was the first step to changing Nyx's mind.

As if to prove her earlier point, the glaive rounded back with the dogs, shouting for the princess to prepare.

A swarm of bees appeared in a symphony of noise.

"Stay back, focus on defense." She ordered to the girl, drawing her sword.

Imperatrix ran into the fray, swinging her blade to cut down a cluster of bees. Nyx fired off arrows, weakening the creatures, but not killing them. He took care of those maimed strays by stabbing them with a dagger when they flew low enough for him to reach.

"What the hell?! How many are there?!" The glaive shouted after five minutes straight of hard fighting.

He and the princess ended up back to back.

"We must have attracted a hive." Imperatrix flinched from a stinger tearing her blouse. She sliced the offender in half and checked the cut on her arm.

No discoloration.

"Damn it! I can't see Lunafreya with them swarming like this." Nyx switched to using his bow as a club to ward off the bees.

"We have to break through!" The princess ducked a stinger aiming for her head and the glaive stabbed it with an arrow before using it to shoot down another bee.

They fought harder to break through the cyclone of bees. For every one they killed, it felt like two replaced them.

The bees abruptly let up the assault and the noise died down enough for them to catch the scream of Lunafreya. The creatures flew higher, departing from the battle and leaving the fighters frantically searching.

"Where's my other princess?!" Nyx's head whipped around the empty field.

"Where are Pryna and Umbra?" Imperatrix joined in the search.

Furious barking caught their attention.

They spotted the dogs jumping and chasing after what was undoubtedly the Queen Bee. What fried their brains was what the creature carried.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Imperatrix?" Nyx rubbed at his eyes, dumbfounded when the same scene greeted him after opening his eyes.

"I…I am and I do not understand..." She swept her hair back, staring dubiously. "They are not carnivores, so why?"

The Queen Bee flew off with a shrieking Lunafreya.

The girl was lobbed the broken pipe Imperatrix had given her at the kidnapper. The creature didn't retaliate from the strikes, nor did any of the bees, rather they were flying in a protective formation around the queen and her.

"We shouldn't be standing here staring…" Nyx pointed out.

"We should not."

The two shared an incredulous look, simultaneously thinking how one girl could get into bizarre situations.

They took off after them, shrugging in resignation. It didn't take them long to catch up since the queen's size made her slower than the workers.

"How are we going to get her down?" Imperatrix shouted over the noise of humming bees and barking dogs.

"I wish I could say with magic. Warping would've taken care of this." Nyx cursed his loss and came to a halt.

"Why are you stopping?" She called from ahead.

"I've got a plan!"

The princess doubled back and caught her breath. "Let's hear your suicidal plan."

The glaive braced himself for an outburst. "I'm gonna shoot the thing down and you're gonna catch her."

Absolute silence and a deadly glare was her answer.

"C'mon! They're too high for us to reach and if we don't do something they'll get away!" He got his bow ready and counted the arrows left. Four would have to bring the queen down. "A fall from that height with a body cushioning shouldn't kill her…"

"Did you not see how _ineffective_ your arrows were on the bees?! Why would they be any more damaging to the queen?" The princess argued, appalled at the faulty plan.

What made him think she would be able to catch a grown woman in free-fall and both of them not come out with broken limbs?!

"Do you have a better idea, Princess? Unless you'd like to try chucking your sword at them?" Nyx gave her a patronizing look.

She sighed, exhaling all her irritation with his god-forsaken arrogance and downing the urge to punch him.

"Don't I just love the sound of you conceding."

"Nyx, I swear if this fails, I will punch you back into a coma." Imperatrix ground her teeth and ran.

"The way you threatened me was very entertaining, come back here and do it again. I'd love to see you brawl like a common thug!" He yelled teasingly.

His bow took aim.

"Shut up and do not miss!" She shouted back.

Imperatrix didn't understand why the glaive got under her skin so much...

He evoked explosive behavior from her with his infinite cockiness, competitive need to best her, general bull-headedness.

Making everything doubly unbearable was his damnable flirting, because she could acknowledge that Nyx was eye-catching. Were he not Lucian with ingrained hate for her, Imperatrix might've found herself one day pursuing him.

Her temper was also all over the place from hunger and dehydration, but that was still no excuse for a princess to behave like a hormonal teenager. She was twenty-eight for the love of Eos!

Damned Nyx, making everything worse!

"Lunafreya!" Imperatrix screamed after an arrow imbedded itself in the queen and it almost dropped the oracle.

"Imperatrix!" She cried back, fruitlessly trying to dislodge herself as the creature staggered in the air.

The staff slipped from Lunafreya's grasp as pain registered in her arm.

"Do not worry, we will get you down!"

"How?!"

"Nyx is working on it!" As soon as the princess said that, another arrow hit the queen and they descended enough for Imperatrix to jump.

The oracle grunted from the downward tug on her middle from the woman and the sharp squeezing on her arm from the queen.

A final arrow and the combined weight of the girls made the monster relinquish its hold.

They fell, screaming murder at Nyx and the bees. The landing impact was mitigated by Imperatrix and she held back tears.

Sharp shoots of pain went up her spine.

"Are you alright, Lunafreya?" The princess blinked to clear up her vision.

"Yes, I am." She slid off Imperatrix and was bombarded with slobbery kisses from the dogs. "Thank you, thank you! I am quite fine, you two."

Satisfied, Umbra moved his kisses to the princess still sprawled out on the ground.

"Ack! Not in my mouth!" She shuffled away.

The black dog climbed on her and rubbed his nose all over her face.

Lunafreya laughed at her predicament. "He does the same to Furia."

"Stop it, Umbra!" Imperatrix pushed against the canine.

"Hey! Look out for the swarm!" Nyx boomed, jogging to their position in spite of the increasing pain in his bad leg.

The oracle scrambled for her staff, holding it in the basic stance taught to her by Imperatrix. She wouldn't run from this, nor would she be caught off guard again.

"Again?" The princess grunted, rolling away from Umbra defending her from a bee. She panted at how much it hurt to move, but grit her teeth, reclaimed her sword, and faced the incoming battle. "I won't be beaten!"

The group re-engaged the swarm.

Umbra and Pryna assisted by mauling bees that came within jumping range of them. The females handed off their daggers to Nyx since his bow was useless at close-range.

Together, the three began a calculated strike on the queen.

"I'll clear the way!" Lunafreya twirled her staff to ward off attackers and found herself amazed at how in control she was.

In practice she couldn't keep a firm grip on the staff.

"Good technique, Luna!" Imperatrix passed her with a smile. The queen was within her sight. "Nyx, give me a boost!"

He groaned but complied, clasping his fingers together and throwing her into the air after her foot landed in his hands.

The princess swung her blade at the queen, cutting off the wings. The creature sank to the ground. The glaive finished it off with a stab.

The queen screeched as the life left it.

"Gah!" Lunafreya covered her ears at the high-pitched buzzing coming from the workers.

The dogs whined as well, sinking to ground with ears flattened against their skulls.

Imperatrix and Nyx remained on guard for further attacks. Without a controller, the worker bees flew off.

"Damn, that was obnoxious. If I had my magic I could've lit them up." The glaive collapsed to the ground, squeezing his aching leg.

The princess leaned against her sword, breathing once more through the pain scratching up her back. It wasn't as forceful as before. Bruising would be the worst of the fall versus a cracked spine. "My Borealis was deeply missed as well. I wouldd even settle for Australis."

What was a soldier without her sword and shield?

"Bora- wha?" He scrunched up his face at the imperial names.

"Aurora Borealis, my magitek sword. Aurora Australis, the accompanying magitek shield."

"Oh, those." A pained grimace passed over him. "Shit, I've heard stories about that set! Did you really take down a Griffon with them? Did they really cost millions? Do they glow?"

She blinked. "How do you know all that?"

Lunafreya ran to them. "Are either of you injured? Do you require a potion?"

The princess sheathed her blade and approached the oracle. "I should be asking that. You are the one in need of a potion."

She took ahold of the girl's arm.

"Did the queen try to eat your arm?!" Nyx blurted out upon seeing the mauled and bloody flesh of Lunafreya.

"I do not know. I am not familiar with the anatomy of a bee. It could have been her mouth that did this… I am not sure if bees have mouths…" She flinched during her rambling from the princess's prodding near the sensitive skin. "Imperatrix, may I ask what you're doing?"

She let go to retrieve a potion out of her pack.

"This injury can be healed, but if you contract poison then we will have a problem since we do not possess an antidote."

Lunafreya sighed in relief at the cool touch of the healing liquid. Her skin knitted back together, leaving only the excess blood as a reminder.

"Luckily, I did not detect any coloring associated with venom." Imperatrix wiped off the blood with a handkerchief.

There went the last potion.

Any more encounters would have to be approached with delicate caution.

"Do you need healing as well? I imagine my weight did no favors for your back." The oracle's eyes flittered over the princess.

"Do not mind me. The pain has faded." She smiled. "I am pleased you remembered your forms. They served you well in the fight."

"Until she got kidnapped." Nyx jested.

Lunafreya blushed, lowering her head in mortification.

She would work harder at the drills Imperatrix put her through. Constantly being helpless was an embarrassment to her role as oracle and princess of Tenebrae.

"Thank you, Nyx. As always, your opinion is greatly appreciated." Imperatrix brushed her hair back with an eye roll.

"It generally is." His smirk widened.

"How fortunate your ego did not take any damage during the battle."

"Princess, I really enjoy these talks of ours. They bring us together."

Imperatrix gave up on winning a verbal spat with the self-assured man. Silence was her best option. She pulled the map and compass out.

Nyx nudged Lunafreya. "I was kidding. You did alright for your first battle. No shaking hands, freeze ups, or vomiting."

"Do you mean that?"

"Yeah, yeah. Any fight you walk out alive is a well fought one."

She clenched her staff closer. "I wanted to do more. You and Imperatrix took on the whole swarm by yourselves."

"A couple weeks of light training isn't going to make you a star on the battlefield. The princess and I have been fighting half our lives, we're not a good comparison to make." Nyx turned serious. "Your role is support anyway. What kind of oracle is knee-deep in a fight? If anybody should be disappointed, it's me."

"Whatever do you mean? You were a flurry of skill!" Lunafreya recoiled, baffled by his derisive admission. "My enchantment with your and Imperatrix's fighting styles are…it's embarrassing to say…what led to my capture."

"It looks that way to a novice. In reality, my form was disastrous." He cheered up from her sincerity.

His shots maimed instead of killed. His movements and reflexes were slow. The way he fought would've been a disgrace to the Kingsglaive.

Nyx didn't have that honor anymore.

The Kingsglaive was dead. No more obnoxious smack talk from prickly glaives.

Should he be happy or disappointed?

"Any fight you walk out alive is a well fought one." Lunafreya recited, smiling kindly.

Nyx laughed. "Throwing my words back at me? Aren't you crafty?"

"I am learning to be." She wiped at her dirty face. The oracle learned a lot of things by the day. "Also, what did you mean by _light_ _training_?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" The glaive scratched at his growing beard.

Lunafreya gave him the "serious" look which made him want to pull her cheeks just to be annoying. That standoffish quality had worn out after the drinking debacle.

She was lucky he finally stoped sporadically laughing at her.

"Kid, it's no secret that Imperatrix is going easy on you."

"How do you know this? I am sure the methods between Insomnia and Niflheim are very different."

"Normally, I'd agree…" Nyx scowled. He could feel the burning circulating from the tips of his fingers to his skull. "...But...we were trained...by the same person."

"That is not…" The oracle trailed off as comprehension dawned on her. "Glauca and Drautos were the same person."

He nodded. "That man sent us home with bruises and exhausted bodies on a daily basis. Believe me, if Imperatrix was using his actual methods, you wouldn't be able to walk. Be happy for the regimen she's created for you."

She shivered at the straightforward account of physical labor beyond acceptable means. "Is that so…"

"Yup. Those meager drills she's got you doing are nothing. Your average citizen could keep up with it."

Lunafreya deflated more and more as Nyx dryly answered her. She...struggled to keep up with what little was asked of her...

"But…Imperatrix said she would not coddle me…"

"It's impossible _not_ to coddle you. I mean, look at that face!" Nyx jokingly swiped at a missed spot of dirt on the oracle's cheek. "Everything about you screams _protect me!_ It's hard to see an innocent face like yours in pain."

"I'm sick to death of people judging me on my looks. I'm not a child nor a delicate flower!" The girl distanced herself from the laughing glaive. "What will it take for me to be seen as I am, Oracle and Princess of Tenebrae?!"

"Might want to calm down with those titles. Don't want Imperatrix to get huffy."

"The empire may have stripped me of my sovereignty, but that doesn't change my birthright."

"Wow! Even you have moments of entitlement. Shocking."

Imperatrix joined the two with an air of confusion over Lunafreya's glaring and Nyx's restrained laughter.

"We are not far off course, it will be sunset when we reach the haven. Pressing on further than that would not be wise." Lunafreya nodded to the princess's advice, vexed expression not wavering in the slightest.

"Let's get a move on then. Last person there has to cook." Nyx brushed past one fuming princess and one bewildered princess.

The dogs yipped, racing happily after him.

"This is not a competition and you do not know where you are going!" Imperatrix kept the map gripped safely in hand and rushed after the glaive.

"I'm going north, aren't I? Same way we came." He rasped out while jogging beside the princess.

"Nyx, you're heading east."

"No way! This is north." The glaive stopped.

The princess spun him in the correct direction. "This is our destination!"

"No, no. North is this way!" He took the map from her and turned back around. "You're confused."

"Really? Then why does the compass say where I am facing as north?"

Nyx leaned over her shoulder and saw the dial pointing at the "N" for north. "What did you do to it?"

"Honestly?!" She moved back from his close proximity. "Rather than admit you are wrong, you throw baseless accusations? How could I have tampered with a Galahdian compass?!"

"I'll give it to you, you've got some engineering skills. It's not that far-fetched, Imperatrix."

"Temptation is telling me to leave navigating in your hand just to prove you wrong, but we cannot afford to wander."

"Is that the only thing temptation is telling you? I still haven't gotten my kiss for rescuing you." Nyx jested and went so far as to tug on her white hair.

She slapped his hand off. "You'll get one when you actually rescue me!"

"I practically did."

"Libertus did."

"Oh, so you'd rather kiss that oaf, but not me?!"

"I am undecided."

Lunafreya sighed heavily as her companions bickered, flirted...or whatever they called it. It took Umbra and Pryna nipping at their legs for the two to stop lashing out.

Since the compass proved him wrong, the princess was placed in charge of navigation.

The glaive grumbled about the change, thinking Imperatrix might lead them to the base and insisted on checking their position on the map every hour. He kept his misgivings to himself, but the princess could tell what he was doing. She chose to stay silent about it.

Imperatrix pondered over Nyx's mishap. It wasn't the first time the he'd gotten confused with the map.

When they landed, he swore up and down that they were a few miles from a rest stop and went quiet once the map was flipped in his hold by the princess. She initially blamed the mistake on his lack of sleep.

With him now repeatedly making mistakes and periodically falling into trances, Imperatrix had to wonder if more was at play.

How could a seasoned warrior have trouble with simple directions? Added to that, Nyx grew up as a hunter, his senses had been honed to a higher degree and he shouldn't have any problems with finding his bearing.

Foolish mistakes weren't in his nature...

Imperatrix would have to observe him further to determine the issue.

The group arrived at the haven a little before sunset. Enough light was left for Nyx to hunt a stray Garula and with Imperatrix's help, lug it to camp for skinning and cooking.

Since meat wasn't an option for the princess, she set out with the oracle to find berries and fruit. When they returned, Nyx had the meat cut up into pieces and was roasting them by the fire on sticks.

The dogs licked their lips hungrily at the pit.

"It is not that funny." Lunafreya stiffly handed Nyx the seasoning bottles he requested from his bag.

Her stomach chose that moment to rumble, eliciting a gasp out of the girl.

The glaive's laughter doubled. "You are too much!"

"Nyx do be careful." Imperatrix cautioned him.

The man was inches from rolling into the pit.

"Don't pretend! I know you're holding back, Princess. Let those giggles out!" He wheezed, laying flat to catch his breath.

"It was an…honest mistake…" She pointedly avoided the knowing grin, grinding her teeth in an effort to hide her mirth from Lunafreya.

The silly girl attempted to eat berries know for causing rashes.

Imperatrix had to slap the fruit out of her hand and was on the receiving end of a frosty glare for it. The ill look transformed to horror, and then gratefulness, after the princess described the difference between the berry Lunafreya almost ate and the ones she was familiar with from Tenebrae.

The mixup was understandable due to the slight color difference.

"Ah, Luna!" Nyx wailed, leaping at the falling sticks of meat.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She drew back form the pit, lamenting over the food being consumed by fire.

"Goddammit!" The glaive gasped from the fat catching fire and hitting him on the arms as he failed to save the food from burning. "The Oracle Special: _charred food_."

Lunafreya hung her head in defeat.

"Take responsibility. You're eating it."

The stick of charred meat was thrust in her direction without a second thought.

"That is fair..." The oracle grimly accepted her dinner.

Nyx snorted, holding out a stick for Imperatrix while he watched Lunafreya nibble at her food. The girl was disgusted but ushered no complaints.

"No thank you, Nyx." The princess lightly pushed his hand from her.

The smell of meat was making her nauseous.

"Don't trust my cooking? I'm loads better than blondie." He smirked at the sharp exhale of the oracle.

"That is not it..."

Nyx finally looked at Imperatrix and winced from how it looked like she was holding back on gagging.

"Whoops, my bad. I forgot you don't eat meat!" He tossed the offering to Umbra and another to Pryna. "I cooked way too much then..."

There were enough sticks to circle the pit and the slabs were thick.

Slaying a Garula was overkill.

Nyx offered a silent prayer for the beast and gave thanks for its contribution. His mom would have tanned his hide for being so wasteful.

"I think the four of you will be able to finish off that meat. If not, what's left can be eaten in the morning." Imperatrix finished her own prayer before picking at her assortment of fruits.

She'd offered some to the others, but they declined, seeing as it was the only thing the princess could eat besides more rations or dried foods.

"You're right." Nyx chuckled at Lunafreya eating more heartily at a new stick than the previous charred one.

Her eating style was reflected by Pryna, both owner and dog had prim etiquette down to a tee. Umbra behaved like a true dog, energetic and messy.

The oracle's personality was a weird mix between her dogs.

Night came swiftly as dinner concluded. The leftovers were wrapped up to be consumed in the morning.

Imperatrix chose to turn in. Tomorrow she would press her case again.

The princess dressed down to her training bra and shorts, uncaring of the stare she could feel penetrating her back.

While it could get cold at night she was used to the freezing temperatures of Gralea. There was also the matter of limited clothing and the necessity of keeping them clean until the group reached a town.

Her impropriety around an unfamiliar man could be waved off.

Lunafreya set her sleeping bag next to the princess's after returning from changing into her nightgown. The dogs curled up on top once she was inside.

"Imperatrix?"

She turned to face the girl, smiling softly at the timid scrunch of her eyebrows. "Yes, are you cold?"

There wasn't much else Imperatrix could think bothered Lunafreya enough to speak up.

The oracle was used to colder weather as well, but some nights it proved too much and she snuggled as close to the princess as she could in the sleeping bag.

Or…maybe their sleeping arrangements got to the girl and she was experiencing trouble dozing without a companion next to her.

"No…I wanted…" Lunafreya clammed up and reached over to pet Pryna to gather her thoughts, eventually muttering. "Do you believe Ravus is alive?"

Imperatrix was struck speechless by the question, both because of her distant attitude towards Ravus and the length of time it'd taken the oracle to inquire about her brother. "He is the most resilient and stubborn person I know. Probably on bed rest at home."

"All of that is true." She didn't add anything further.

"Would you like to hear an embarrassing story about him?" It could be called meddling, but the princess was determined to thaw some of the ice surrounding the Fleuret siblings.

"I am listening."

Imperatrix shared the story of how a flustered Ravus called her midday, distressed out of his mind, because he took leave of his post after hearing of his sister's failing health and got home to find out the episode caused by the transition of Lunafreya's body from that of a child to a woman.

She had to calmly explain to him how to handle a girl during her time of the month and repeatedly talked him down from doing anything drastic, like having Lunafreya taken to a doctor to stop the bleedings permanently.

Him not wanting to see his sister in pain wasn't reason enough to stop the body's natural functions.

The next time Ravus came to Gralea, he was taken on a shopping trip by Imperatrix and her sisters to purchase items for alleviating symptoms of periods.

The elder Fleuret hated when any of the princesses brought up the experience.

"Goodness! I remember how uncomfortable we both were when he gave me those items…and the awkward talk that ensued…" Lunafreya cringed, face flaming a bright red, indiscernible in the darkness.

"Flawed though he may be, never think that your brother does not love you, Lunafreya. Not many men are willing to purchase feminine products for women." Imperatrix burned to tell her more stories of the man that went out of the way for his sister's affections, despite how those efforts usually blew up in his face on account of Ravus's mercurial attitude.

She held off though, knowing it would take time for the preconceived feelings of frustration and betrayal between the siblings to be resolved.

"Who bought them for you then? Servants?" The oracle deflected, not acknowledging the twinge she felt in her heart.

"The first time, my father and uncle. Unsurprisingly, the trip made the paper."

"That cannot be true."

"It is. Father did the same for my sisters, making the paper each time. If you ask him nicely, he will even show off the paper clippings he kept of the newspapers." Imperatrix's smile went lopsided. "Never fails to get a laugh out of him."

"I…I am having a hard time believing this…"

"I have a hard time believing the ridiculous qualities of Father, too. Though he is less of a jester without Uncle…"

A lull in the conversation brought a state of pensiveness over the girls.

Further talking didn't occur and eventually Lunafreya drifted off to sleep with the dogs snoring loudly.

Sleep eluded Imperatrix.

"What's wrong, Princess?" Nyx said and startled the princess.

The glaive elected to take first watch, even when not needed.

Daemons couldn't approach havens. The enchantments provided the group a respite, but Nyx insisted on keeping watch.

The paranoia clearly stemmed from the proximity of the Norduscaen Base.

"What gave me away?" She sat up.

He leered for a few seconds before answering with a slight hoarseness. "The teeth grinding and the tossing."

She was grateful for the combination of the darkness and her bronze skin tone disguising her blush. "My apologies, it is an unfortunate habit I cannot break."

"I've noticed you do it when you're frustrated. What's bugging you?"

The princess could give the immediate, obvious answer, but something closer to her heart slipped out. "I cannot turn my mind from Father."

Nyx stiffened.

He'd heard the girls talking, but hearing directly from Imperatrix about the man responsible for the fall of Insomnia angered him. "Why? He wanted you dead."

"I…he is…" The words became tangled on her lips.

In spite of the harsh truth given to her, the princess's mind returned often to her father's well-being and the conversation with Lunafreya brought fought those concerns full-force.

Did he make it out of Insomnia uninjured? Was he handing the nation without her assistance?

The time for retirement neared a long time ago for him, but he couldn't stand handing off the reigns to his daughter when the country was still at war. The airs he put on for the world could fool others, but she knew the stress and workload of the crown overwhelmed him.

He should have been spending the rest of his years at one of their manors, enjoying the peace and quiet, or sailing around the world like he used to do in early years of his reign.

From there, her thoughts descended into fretting for her sisters. Those worries didn't alarm or frustrate the princess, the girls hadn't ordered her death.

Furia would be inconsolable with both her husband and sister indisposed, left all alone in Tenebrae.

Euphemia was old enough to be expected to forgo her artistic pursuits and assist in governing as a princess, but Imperatrix couldn't imagine her mustering much enthusiasm for the responsibilities.

She prayed Venus wouldn't slip back into her shell from her absence, it took time and effort to get the child to involve herself with people.

"Don't get offended by this, but your dad's a major dick."

Imperatrix jerked out of her thoughts, hissing at Nyx. "Mind your tongue!"

"If you're going to snip at me then come over here. A _disturbed princess_ is a _bratty princess_." He waved her over hurriedly at the mumbling of Lunafreya.

The girl became exceedingly cranky if her sleep was interrupted, making her a nightmare to rouse in the morning.

"Why are you getting upset? He tried to kill you!" Nyx grumbled again when Imperatrix was seated beside him. "Not to mention the other lives he's ruined..."

"You wish to spew more enmity at me? I understand your feelings, I do, but…I do not wish to hear this…" She lowered her head onto her knees. Dredging up wrongs committed at war wouldn't benefit either of them. "He is my father, I am his daughter, worrying is in my nature. Please do not turn this sour..."

He acquiesced by switching topics. "Aren't you cold?"

"Not at all. The weather in Gralea is much colder." She appreciated the turn in conversation and said nothing to him scooting closer to her.

"Must be an icy wonderland if you're okay in shorts and a bra in this cold." Nyx furtively eyed the extra skin on display.

He'd changed from the leathers into sweats and a t-shirt for the night and was a little chilly. They were a breath away from their arms touching.

"Not that I'm complaining about the view."

"In some parts, frozen wonderlands have developed. We have the slaying of the Glacian to thank for the paradoxical weather of tundras and desserts in our empire." The princess disregarded the nervousness circulating in her from Nyx's proximity and the heat radiating from him.

"Everybody was sure the empire would be struck down by lighting from Ramuh or get swords rained down on you all from Bahamut. When nothing happened we were in shock."

"Why should we be punished for defending our homeland?! Shiva attacked us without warning and we suffered insurmountable losses from the battle! I have fought many battles, but that one…" Imperatrix shivered, images flashed in her mind.

A field of white snow drenched in bodies and blood. Airships painting the sky with explosions. She sat amongst that chaos, numb with absolute defeat...

"I learned true fear and felt the full measure of failure that day..."

"You were there?! Why the hell would your father force you to fight?!" Nyx's veins felt like they'd been shot up with ice.

He remembered how awed and terrified he felt in the presence of the Lucian Kings fighting off daemons. Those feelings couldn't measure up to facing a god bent on destroying a country.

"He did no such thing! Father insisted on me staying in the capital, in the event of his death. For that very reason, I joined my legion without his knowledge." She lifted her head, banishing the terror. "We are Aldercapts, we do not rule from the safety of a castle. If there is danger to be faced, we are right there beside the people. We conquer the trials before us!"

 _Veni, vidi, vici_.

Their dynasty would outlive every disaster through its valiant members.

"Not a bad mindset to have." A smile broke out on Nyx's face.

"It has served us well for many years." She returned the smile with a soft one.

"Is that battle why you all switched tactics from attacking with humans to cyborgs?"

"Yes, Father was horrified at the death toll and he faced a lot of backlash for the result of the battle. Civil unrest was at its peak…the nobles in particular were…" Imperatrix's throat seized up and she couldn't go on.

"That's when your sister and stepmother were killed."

"We…all pretend like it never happened...most days. Like Pompeia was never our sister…" Tears gathered in her eyes and Imperatrix covered her face with her hands. "It's swept under the rug, moreso than Mother's death…"

Ander Zamia had been wrong! The princess lost her fair share in this waking life.

"You guys could turn some areas into amusement parks with how crazy your weather is. Think of it, Iceland in one section, Desertland in another!" Nyx joked weakly to comfort the woman he upset with his nosiness. Losing a sibling was no joke. "The weather is probably another reason why so many of you have split personalities."

"What?" She sputtered, lifting her face.

"Hot one minute, cold the next. It represents you Nephilim spot on."

"Are you including me in that statement?"

"Duh! One moment you're the biggest pushover I've ever seen, the next you're snappish as hell. Split personalities to a tee!"

Imperatrix couldn't help laughing. Her tears dissolved. "Pray you never visit my court then. The nobles' _split personalities_ would drive you to insanity."

"Hmm, I think I could deal with it for a chance at the imperial women."

She muffled her giggles with her hand.

A dog was a dog.

"The empire dishes out fine women. And not just in looks.." He admitted without thinking.

"How would you know? I was under the impression that you did not like us. Then again...you are very knowledgeable about our history..."

Nyx scratched at his beard, weighing if he should reveal his secret. "Tv and tabloid magazines. I probably know more about your family's business than I do about our prince's."

She scrunched up her eyebrows, analyzing the unkempt looking ex-glaive.

He hadn't shaved off the stubble when they were in Galahd, instead giving the beard a nicer look. His hair was growing back in on the sides of his temple as well. Nyx appeared more warrior than politician.

Why had he been interested in enemy politics that weren't foreign policies? Tabloids served no purpose.

"I didn't care for it until I got put on guard duty for the prince once. His advisor was the one with dozens of articles about you and all your good deeds." The glaive answered what ran through Imperatrix's mind.

"What was the royal advisor trying to accomplish? Early conditioning?" She could see the Lucians feeding their citizens propaganda meant to incite, it was sound tactic to use, especially with how isolated Insomnia was from the rest of the world.

The cloistered people would be easy to influence.

"Wrong! Poor Ignis was trying and failing to motivate our prince to take on more responsibilities by using you as an example. Didn't really work and ended with the two getting into an argument." Nyx smirked mischievously and nudged her shoulder. "I think he might have a crush on you, too. You're basically everything he expects out of royalty. The stickler probably has secret posters of you in his room!"

"It heartens me to hear there was one Lucian that did not hate me." She smiled derisively, inwardly chuckling at the young prince tuning out paparazzi accounts of her deeds.

"Don't be ridiculous you had at least two. Drautos sang your praise all the damn time."

"Drautos?" Imperatrix was confused until memory caught up to her. "Glauca…"

"Woah, you did the same thing Lunafreya did!" Nyx shook his head, moving onto what he wanted to ask. "What happened to him?"

He didn't know how to feel about the captain.

All along Titus Drautos lived a lie.

Did his double life negate the man's accomplishments with the Kingsglaive? It was thanks to him that Nyx achieved acclaim in the citadel and became a force of nature.

"Do you…truly wish to know?" Imperatrix cast a worried glance his way, specifically at his healed, but still, discolored arm.

"Yeah, I asked, didn't I?"

She breathed in deeply and looked Nyx straight in the eye with solemnity. "Lunafreya and I found you both among the rubble. Glauca was conscious, you were not."

The princess recalled how overwhelmed she became when able to finally look her mentor in the eye.

" _Princess Imperatrix…you survived? Why are you here?" Titus wheezed out, shuffling painfully on top of the destroyed rubble._

 _He couldn't believe that the girl he attempted to murder was kneeling beside him without a single look of disgust._

 _No._

 _There was the soft sadness she was known for in Imperatrix's eyes. His own eyes burned from both blood and the radiance of the princess bathed in sunlight after a night of dark horrors._

" _How did it come to this, Glauca?" Imperatrix took his hand, marveling over the end of a long mystery._

 _He was younger than she imagined. No less severe looking though..._

 _The great city of Insomnia was destroyed and its king dead in a corridor. Thousands had died in the crossfires._

 _The balance of nations overturned in one day..._

 _The princess felt such shame and regret for how the war came to an end. This wasn't victory to her._

" _The war created monsters out of many. I became the worst of them after the loss of my home." Titus was in immense pain._

 _Everywhere ached from the fight with Nyx. His chest hurt worst of all, due to the woman beside him. He wanted to choke that wretched look off!  
_

 _"Turn those miserably, kind eyes towards someone else! Monsters don't deserve tears."_

 _A mixture of a gasp and broken chuckle was exhaled from Imperatrix._

" _Acerbic as always. You behave the same without armor, it is slightly comforting..." She kept hold of his hand, turning it to examine his pulse. "Would you…really have killed me, Glauca?"_

 _Titus couldn't answer._

 _Blood obscured his view of the princess._

" _Should I be proud that your loyalty to the empire extends to carrying out orders you despise...or…disappointed that our years of teacher and student meant so little?" Imperatrix looked down at a cut in her dress. A second slower and the blade would've spilled her blood. "Your swings were true and quick, meant to instantly kill. That is answer enough for me."_

 _She was aware of how the general liked to toy with his prey before killing them. King Regis was a prime example._

 _Glauca could've killed the old man swiftly, but taunting him proved to be more amusing before he stabbed the man in the back, digging the blade in further with each cling of breath from Regis as he reached for Lunafreya._

 _The general would've spared her that agony..._

" _You are too emotional. Stop shedding tears, girl!" Titus yanked his hand from her. "I would've killed you! Look upon me with revulsion!"_

 _His furious rant drew Lunafreya from Nyx._

" _It is alright." Imperatrix assured the girl before she could come closer._

 _The oracle glared at Titus and returned to the glaive._

" _That was how you are supposed to look at me." Titus sneered at the teary princess._

" _I cannot stop my tears! It is human nature to cry in the wake of sadness." Her tears lessened, but didn't stop. "With no armor to hide behind, I can see all the self-loathing you hold. You are of two worlds, Glauca and Titus Drautos. I do not know which has more hold over you, but your outburst has made something clear." Imperatrix's shoulders sagged with the expulsion of her tension. "You would not have killed me."_

 _Titus scoffed, looking up to the sky. "You've gone deaf."_

" _From the moment you approached me on the balcony, you lamented over your actions, bemoaned my robbed future as empress, and scolded me at every opportunity. Till the end...you were my teacher."_

" _Don't infer things that aren't present."_

" _And now, at your lowest, you are still lashing out at me about the costs of kindness." Imperatrix frowned tiredly. "If you are hoping I will kill you for following orders, then disappointment is yours."_

" _What is wrong with you?! You don't let attempted murder go unpunished. Death is the only way to settle this!"_

" _I imagine death is what you have been seeking for many years." The princess continued on her own wavelength, paying no heed to her general's arguments. "I will not give it to you…"_

" _Fine. I don't require your blade. Etro shall come for me soon…" Titus laid back, feeling the stones dig into his back like blades. His ruined clothing stuck uncomfortably to his skin._

 _His last moments on Eos would be spent in agony. How fitting.  
_

" _I will not let you die either!"_

 _The man had no warning before the princess tugged him to his feet._

 _The change caused him to teeter to the side and Titus was caught by Imperatrix. She grunted from his weight as she supported him._

 _He was too stunned to protest and automatically followed her lead._

" _What're you doing?!" Lunafreya exclaimed, dogs growling protectively at her heels. "He is not coming with us!"_

" _He will die if left here." Imperatrix said quietly._

 _The oracle's grievances with the general were known to the princess._

 _General Glauca killed Queen Sylva right in front of Ravus and Lunafreya. Added to that bitterness, was the recent regicide of the Lucian King._

 _Callous words were on the tip of Lunafreya's tongue. Years of etiquette training kept the boiling rage at bay. "He's tried to kill all of us multiple times! What is to stop him from trying now?!"_

 _Titus commended the oracle on her scrutiny. Imperatrix should follow that hostility._

" _I know you heard him. Is a man begging for death really a threat to us?"_

" _It could be an elaborate act!" The princess's tranquility was making the oracle angrier._

" _I assure you, Glauca never hides his feelings towards things. If he wanted us dead, we'd be dead!"_

" _I do not need to be told that. I'm well aware of how he deals with people!"_

" _Lunafr-"_

" _No, he's a murderer! First my mother and then Regis. I don't trust him!"_

 _Titus almost wanted to roll his eyes at the girlish bickering. Fed up, he shoved Imperatrix in the direction of the oracle._

 _The girls collapsed in a tangle of limbs._

" _Killing both of you would be absurdly easy right now, and would save my ears the disturbance!" He grabbed Nyx._

" _Get your hands off him!" Lunafreya forced the princess off, leaping to the glaive's defense before he could be taken from her._

 _The general slapped her away and ignored the dogs biting at his legs in retaliation. He threw his previous subordinate over his shoulder and began walking._

 _These three defied all odds, escaping daemons, outsmarting turncoat glaives, and surviving against himself._

 _Titus grudgingly admired their grit._

 _The princess's fortitude was no surprise, he'd seen first-hand how a slip of a girl that cried over the silliest things, transformed into a steely sword master._

 _How Imperatrix cried during their preliminary training sessions..._

 _Titus was the first to be utterly brutal on the girl. He didn't hold his punches or wait for the princess to reach landmarks in skill._

 _The general demanded and pushed for excellency, it was this mania that convinced the emperor to put a known terror in charge of his daughter._

 _He would get results quicker than anyone else..._

 _Battering the imperial princess into the ground, day after day, felt cathartic to the man, who'd lost everything to the empire._

 _Striking her felt like striking Iedolas._

 _The emperor had to know of his contempt for everything imperial, yet he raised no objections to Titus's methods with the princess._

 _Now, Titus realized the emperor played a long game with him. The doting father knew his daughter could, and would, win over any that hated her. The general was no exception to that rule._

 _Somewhere down the line he stopped viewing Imperatrix as an outlet for his rage._

 _It must've been the girl's obstinacy..._

 _Where nobles spat at her gender, she endeavored to prove them wrong, to prove she could be the heir._

 _She joined council meetings, involved herself more with nobles and commoners, contributed to the welfare of the country with her philanthropy. She cut her long hair and learned the sword as a male would, fighting through her tears and pain._

 _Each day of being broken by Titus, he expected to see a familiar gleam in her eyes, the gleam he saw in his every reflection, hatred._

 _But not once did Imperatrix look at him with loathing for his bruising her. Not once did she speak to him disrespectfully for reprimanding her worse than her father would. She looked to him as not as one would their tormentor, but their teacher._

 _He lost the will to hate her when his rage hardened her body and not the heart. He couldn't break that part of her._

 _She became…_

" _You will take this." Imperatrix pressed the medical supplies into the general's hands. "You will not die, forgotten among destruction. I forbid it!"_

" _What does it matter? Here, there, today, tomorrow, we all die eventually..." Titus stared uncomprehendingly at the medicine._

 _Why prolong his monstrous existence?_

" _Will nothing I say convince you?!" She ground her teeth, twisted by the situation and the argument with Lunafreya._

 _The oracle was waiting in the airship for her. Nyx's injuries needed to be treated._

 _The girls had been saved the struggle of carrying the glaive by the general. His life was now in their hands and dwindling by the minute._

 _But the princess couldn't abandon another comrade that needed her help..._

 _Leaving Ravus behind was hard enough. Now she had to do it again with Glauca._

" _Go already, Imperatrix!" Titus commanded._

 _She looked between him and the airship._

" _Don't make me repeat myself."_

" _I will leave you with these parting words in hopes you choose another course." Imperatrix met his gaze boldly, conveying a multitude of sadness, anger, admiration, betrayal, and forgiveness._

 _"As I told you before, I protect all citizens of Niflheim regardless of any ills. I still breathe, because in your heart, my death was not your wish." She graced him with a sad smile and clutched his arm in farewell. "Titus Drautos or Glauca? Until you know which is the answer, you will find no peace. When you have an answer, I would like to hear it."_

 _Titus brushed her off, showing his back in a rare display of insolence._

" _Aeternum Vale." He muttered his final words to the princess._

 _Imperatrix let him walk away, shedding a few more tears at the vagueness of his farewell._

 _Was he saying it to mean the end as most soldiers did upon death? Or was he simply saying goodbye with an intent to return?_

 _She could only pray that a defeated man walking among wreckage wouldn't be the last image she had of General Glauca._

"So we don't know if he's alive or dead?" Nyx scuffed his foot against the ground, finished drawing the tribal patterns of his home.

The doodles kept him grounded during story time.

A part of him wanted to be like the captain and scream at Imperatrix for sympathizing with enemies, but he knew that wasn't right.

The three of them wouldn't be traveling together if the princess held grudges. Shit, bodies would've dropped in Galahd if she did.

"Do you wish him dead as well? Lunafreya was furious afterwards. The flight was silent as a grave for two hours."

He laughed without meaning to.

For all the oracle's talk of being a grown woman, she threw tantrums like a child.

"I understand your animosity but I could not in good conscious kill him, nor could I leave him with nothing..." Imperatrix mistook the meaning behind his laughter. The somberness deepened in her voice. "My actions most likely amounted to nothing. I do not see how he could have survived on his own with those injuries."

She left him to die...just like Lunafreya wanted.

"I was laughing at blondie, not you." Nyx wrapped his arm around the princess, recognizing that their talking had been consistently depressing.

He wasn't usually one to persist in heavy talk with women but she made it easy to bring up things he normally wouldn't.

"He was half-dead by the time I lost consciousness. I'm not surprised you couldn't kill him. Hell, I found it hard to be mad by the end of it..."

Imperatrix trembled from the contact and resisted her urge to pull away. Nyx wasn't family or a friend. He was a stranger breaching her personal space. "Crossing blades with someone can reveal things that communication would fail to convey."

The glaive was also her companion.

She had to make an effort with him. The princess would have to get used to another person with a hands-on approach...

"Yeah…I don't think Drautos would have ever told us he was a shell of a man." He became immersed in his thoughts.

Imperatrix chose not to interrupt him.

They stayed in the embrace until the princess became drowsy. Nyx let her go with minimal teasing.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Will you two get up already? This is worse than dealing with Nebula and Tempesta!" Imperatrix vigorously shook the glaive hiding in his sleeping bag and groaning for five minutes like a child.

Lunafreya hadn't stirred either, but Nyx was the easier one to wake in the morning.

Umbra trotted around the meat from yesterday, eagerly waiting for his portion. Pryna remained relaxed by her master, sniffing pretentiously at the noise.

Imperatrix was the only human wide-awake for the day.

"Leave me alone! I'm unemployed now, there's no reason to be up this early." Nyx turned on his side.

"It is nine in the morning. How is that early?" She'd already done her morning workout and stretches, foraged for some more fruit, had breakfast, counted their supplies, and mapped out their destination once more.

They were wasting daylight at this point!

"Are you serious?! Normal people don't function till at least ten or eleven!"

"Ten?! That's a sloth's awakening! I have only ever slept in that late when I was sick."

"By the Six, woman, leave me alone! It's barely been an hour since we switched shifts, I'm exhausted!"

"You are a soldier, as am I. We live off five hours of sleep and you have had six. Get up already!"

The glaive curled up in response.

"Very well, Nyx. I gave you the opportunity to rise voluntarily." Imperatrix sat on top of the lump and unzipped the sleeping bag.

"Damn, stop it! If you wanted to jump me so bad, all you had to do was ask!" He fought off the woman straddling him, now fully awake, and experiencing a manly dose of arousal for their positioning.

It would've been better if the princess were still in her night wear...

"Lewdness will not distract me. Rise, Nyx Ulric!"

"You asked for it, Princess."

Imperatrix blushed scarlet and shrieked indignantly as the glaive lifted her up.

She latched onto him from the uneven distribution of her weight. His arms kept her aloft from the middle of her thighs and the princess was awkwardly lumped over his shoulders, grasping around his neck.

"What did I say about man-handling me?!" She drew back from the grinning imbecile.

"What do you call what you were just doing?" He fired back, grin stretching at her flushed appearance. "Gotta hand it to you, a woman on top of me is a great way to wake up. Do it more often!"

She scoffed and wiggled out of his hold, unsteadily landing on her feet to point threateningly at him. "Stop trying me, Glaive!"

He raised his hands placidly and backed up. "Sorry, Princes. I'll keep my hands to myself."

A huff later, Imperatrix approached the second late-riser.

A gentler method was used.

"Lunafreya, did you sleep well?" The princess laid her hand where she assumed the oracle's head was inside the sleeping bag.

The girl didn't respond or move. Worried, Imperatrix unzipped the sleeping bag and shook the oracle's shoulder.

"Lunafreya?" She laid still and the princess called out more frantically, turning the girl onto her back. "Nyx!"

He jumped out his skinned, almost falling over in the middle of switching out his pajamas for traveling clothes. "What's wrong? She ignoring you, too?"

"This isn't a joke!"

Nyx raced over at her seriousness and kneeled beside the princess. She showed him Lunafreya's arm.

"Holy Astrals! I thought you said there was no poison?!"

"I did not see any and poison is known to be fast acting. I don't know how she contracted it!" Imperatrix's stomach lurched at the purple and green overtaking the oracle's veins.

She checked for a pulse and found a slow, but steady one.

"Oh, gods. What have I done? There are no antidotes..." Her hands cradled Lunafreya's head close to her chest. "I should've checked on her instead of doing conditioning!"

"Shit, shit, shit..." Nyx entered his own state of panic, pushing the dogs off Lunafreya's stomach. He scooted closer, inspecting the girl's pallor and breathing. "Should we cut open her arm and suck it out?"

"Little good that will do when it's been in her bloodstream for a day."

Not to mention they could contract the poison as well...

"How do we fix this?"

"We are too far from the rest area…"

"There has to be something!"

"Nyx…" Imperatrix set Lunafreya down gently and brushed through the girl's fair locks that appeared to be losing shine. "There is…one option open to us…"

He quickly caught on to the silent suggestion and glared at her. "No, no, no! Screw that Niff base! Did you plan all this?!"

"Are you out of your mind?! How could I have planned this?!" The princess stood up, outraged at the thoughtless accusation.

"Pretend like there was nothing wrong, and then the next morning act concerned before you run off to order our death warrants?!" Nyx went on, standing toe-to-toe with Imperatrix.

Gone was the woman and in her place, a nameless Niff to blame.

A fist collided with his jaw and he reeled back, more from shock than the impact.

"How dare you! I have put up with your heinous disrespect long enough! I have done nothing but help both of you since the fall. I am trying to…" Imperatrix choked on her words as the bottled up regret, shame, and sorrow hit her.

So many lives had been lost for a damned crystal!

For power that they didn't need!

How dare her father damage their reputation, their honor, all for a useless piece of stone! How dare he toss her aside after years of toil on his behalf and behalf of their country!

How could she have become such a failure as a daughter?

How could she not have known what he would do?!

"Imperatrix…" Nyx balked at her uncontrollable bawling, reaching out to remedy the scene. "Hey, I didn't…"

He felt like a complete asshole.

"I am not heartless, Nyx! If someone needs my help I will give it!" Imperatrix caught her breath unsteadily. "If you cannot see past my origins, then at least trust that promise. Trust that I will do the humane thing and save this girl's life."

"Go to the base then..." The glaive pulled back his hand, feeling it would be unsuitable to touch her. He nursed his aching jaw instead. "You're her only shot at recovery. I'll stay here, do what I can to stop the poison."

"Your faith isn't misplaced, I swear it!" Imperatrix smiled in a manner meant to comfort but it did the opposite, twisting Nyx's self-disgust further. "I will return with an antidote..."

"I…don't doubt that…" He finally raised his eyes to meet hers. "Don't let her die, Imperatrix."

"Poisoned is not how the oracle shall pass. Old age is."

The princess emptied her bag to include only necessities and grabbed her sword. Nyx saw her off with a grim look.

Whatever lingering reservations he had towards her and the empire, Imperatrix would lay them to rest with her return.

There was good in her people.

Niflheim could save lives as well as it took them. It could!

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Open the gate, it's the imperial princess!"

Imperatrix stood tall and composed as the Norduscaen Base opened its doors to her. She entered with no signs of her distress for Lunafreya, her exhaustion from running for miles without stop, and her sadness over Nyx's insults.

"Hail, Her Imperial Highness, Princess Imperatrix of the glorious white empire!"

The soldiers kneeled with their fists enclosed over their hearts, lifting their heads in wonder to gaze upon the legend. Imperatrix was too fixated on the scene behind them to properly address the men.

Damaged machinery littered the area.

"What has happened here?"

"Brigadier General Loqi Tummelt was notified of your arrival and is on his way to receive you, Your Highness." One of the soldiers spoke up hesitantly. "He asks for your patience. A report will be personally given by him."

"It must have been a serious breach…" She remembered that the men were still kneeling in deference and kindly smiled at each one of them. "I thank you for the warm greeting. You may return to your stations, soldiers."

They stood, gave a salute, and returned to their posts.

The princess could hear some of them whispering about her miraculous survival from Insomnia and how amazing it was to meet the princess.

"Who could have done all this…and why?" Imperatrix wandered up a ramp to get a better view of the main courtyard.

Dozens of cyborgs were in varying stages of disfigurement. A few airships had crashed into the wall, leaving a gaping hole in the base's defense. Blood could be spotted in random areas. In the middle of all the destruction was a lone magitek armor slumped in defeat with the cockpit destroyed and its leg severed with sparks still emitting from the wires.

"Who could do this?" Imperatrix repeated unbelievingly.

She hadn't spotted signs of an army on her trek. The grass held no footprints. There weren't any vehicles in the region. An aerial attack was the last logical conclusion, but their airships should've been capable of defending the base.

"Prince Noctis and his retinue laid waste to the base."

She gazed to her side.

"Brigadier General Loqi Tummelt at your service, Princess Imperatrix. I'm relieved you didn't perish in Insomnia." Loqi introduced himself, bowing and lifting his hand to receive hers to bestow a kiss, as was customary when greeting royalty. Instead, Imperatrix took his hand and pulled him up, keeping a firm grip on his arm to make sure he didn't fall.

"Brigadier General, you are injured! Why are you not in bed?!"

The young noble Furia used to giggle over was wrapped in bandages covering half his face and entire upper body. His military coat hung haphazardly over his shoulders and his hair was messily combed.

Clearly, Loqi rushed irresponsibly to meet her.

"No injury would keep me from welcoming our crown princess." He scoffed haughtily, enthused at her concern over him. "These burns are nothing! I only regret that I stand before you out of uniform and not in my usual ornateness."

"Do not trouble yourself over such trivialities." Imperatrix waved off his sulkiness.

He was still in the early years of his military career and hadn't come to understand that ninety percent of the time soldiers were the opposite of elegant, due to the dangers of the job.

"I will, however, insist that we relocate to the infirmary. Standing on ceremony is not conducive to your health."

"As you command, Your Highness." Loqi led her down the ramp, dismayed that he wouldn't get to entertain royalty in the command center.

He did perk up instantly when the princess offered her arm for him to escort her. He understood that her actions were out of consideration for his slowed gait and preened under the attention.

A mere brigadier general being dotted on by the crown princess? He'd have bragging rights for days among the men!

"Where are all the soldiers?" Imperatrix questioned as they passed the hallways with no one in sight.

"Sadly, a large portion of our forces were killed. The men serving as lookouts are all that I currently have. Well, besides the doctor."

Her stomach dropped at the thought of Noctis killing citizens of the empire. The thought didn't sit well with the princess.

From Lunafreya's descriptions of the boy of twenty, he didn't sound like the type capable of murder, particularly since he hadn't been engaged in a real fight his entire life, walled off in Insomnia.

Sparring matches in the citadel with comrades amounted to little when faced with a living, breathing, target with the intention to kill you. Imperatrix learned that lesson at fourteen.

She didn't want to think of Noctis as a threat, but his actions couldn't be seen as anything else if he had the power to take down an entire base on his own.

The bloody magic of Lucis was an eyesore!

"Do you know why the little king attacked? This base is fairly new and its purpose is for redevelopment and protection of towns in their infancy. He could not have known about it." Imperatrix quizzed Loqi as he settled back into bed.

The doctor went about his work quietly as the two talked.

"The Immortal must have told his liege it'd be a good idea to stop us from getting a foothold in Duscae. Cor and Noctis did the most damage. They defeated my Cuirass with ease!" He scowled heavily with his fingers pressing into his cheek. "My success here would've been a stepping stone for our great empire. Those wretches will pay!"

The doctor chastised him for aggravating his wounds and asked the young man to calm down or he'd be put under again. Loqi petulantly snorted, laying back on the bed as instructed, only after the princess intervened.

"Why am I not shocked? Cor Leonis is often the cause of headaches. Meddling in things he should not!" Imperatrix had a more personal dislike of the man due to an incident years ago.

Lucky for him, their paths never crossed. The princess hadn't gotten the chance to punish the man for his horrid transgression.

"More importantly, are you still capable of managing Saxham in spite of these losses, Tummelt?"

"With great shame, I admit, I cannot." Loqi balled his fist, wrinkling the military coat in his grasp. "We lost equipment and soldiers. The majority still living have been re-stationed at Saxham, but the situation there isn't ideal."

The princess crossed her legs and reclined on the armrest of the chair.

Bad news rained supreme today. Lunafreya hovered between life and death. Now an entire town was in peril.

"Have you contacted the commander in charge of this region?"

"I have. Shipment of supplies and recruits are still being decided. I was told a special force would be provided in the meantime to assist with fortifying the town." Loqi's grimness abated marginally. "In fact, they're expected to be arriving shortly."

"What of Senator Ortho? This settlement is his responsibility. Has he sent guards?"

"No. The senator doesn't wish to lend his personal guard until the daemons are taken care of, or the lighthouses are completed. We haven't made headway with either."

Imperatrix's foot rolled in irritated circles.

She focused on breathing to prevent an Aldercapt outburst from happening. Once ignited, their tempers ran explosive and hot.

There was a reason red stayed the color of their house. The family dwelled deep in passion and sometimes it could consume instead of invigorate.

"I will get in touch with the senator, he is the one with immediate capability of providing aid and it is his responsibility to maintain Saxham." The princess rose from her seat. She softly pushed Loqi back to his cot when he tried to stand in deference to her. "Rest, Brigadier General. You are no help to your soldiers if you collapse."

"Princess Imperatrix, forgive my impertinence, but I won't rest while the crown salvages my failure!"

"Then delegate. The doctor made it clear you are in no state to be moving around." She cut off anymore of his proud refusals and gave the doctor permission to sedate Loqi if needed.

That order shut him up and got an odd observation from the brigadier general.

"Less threatening than Furia but still effective…they're both so marvelous it's hard to pick a favorite!"

Imperatrix hid her chortle as she stepped into the doctor's office for the item she requested.

"Apologies, Your Highness. We're out of antidotes and I used the last high potion on the brigadier general."

"And he still looks like that?"

"Believe me, Princess, he looked much worse before. An elixir would have better served his injuries." The doctor paled at the memory of Loqi being dragged out his unit, body burned beyond recognition and delirious.

Wherever Lucians went, they left flames in their wake.

"Give me the statistics of the garrison." Imperatrix drew the man back to the present.

"Our garrison consisted of forty soldiers including the medical staff. Fifteen survived. Including myself, six of us are on base, the rest as Tummelt said, were sent to Saxham." The doctor sighed. "No one expected this base to be attacked so soon. Nor so savagely."

"You all are greatly stretched thin..."

An injured leader, a senior medical officer, three watchmen, and a communication officer were all that consisted of the Norduscaen Garrison.

The commander wouldn't be out of line for considering the base a lost cause and that was most likely the reasoning for the delay of resources...

Someone new would be sent to replace Loqi for the massive failure.

"Does Saxham posses more medical supplies?"

"It's possible they still have some antidotes. I sent most our supplies with my subordinates." He examined the princess inquisitively. "Your Highness, may I ask why you need one? Besides dehydration and relative exhaustion, you appear in good condition."

"One of my companions was poisoned by a Killer Bee. The infection has spread through her arm."

"Could you explain it to me in detail? I might be able to make a remedy to lessen the poison."

Imperatrix went into full detail about the attack without mentioning the identity of Nyx and Lunafreya. With the world believing her dead, that gave the oracle a blanket of safety for travel.

By the time she reached the end of her explanation, a soldier announced the arrival of the chancellor over the intercom.

"T-The chancellor?! Why on Eos is he here?! This day is full of unexpected surprises!" Loqi scrambled out of bed, drapping his coat back on. "I meant no offense to you of course, Your Highness."

"The chancellor makes it his mission to catch people unaware..." Imperatrix waited by the door for the young man. "Do you mind if I join this meeting? I have words to exchange with him and would like to know why the right-hand is here and not in Gralea."

"I'd be honored, Princess."

Imperatrix and Loqi hastened to the command room after being notified by intercom that was where the chancellor had been escorted.

Sitting at the head of the long table was Ardyn, looking mildly indifferent, until the princess stepped into his line of sight and he brightened considerably.

"Princess, praise be that you are alive and well! Words can't express how relieved I am to see your face." He shuffled past Loqi to stand before Imperatrix, giving one of his playful bows.

She didn't offer him her hand for a courtly kiss as she was supposed to.

"Imperial Chancellor Izunia, to what do we owe the pleasure? I was under the assumption that soldiers would be arriving." Loqi questioned, annoyed by the blatant brush-off. "You have no military jurisdiction, as I recall."

"You are right. I've no control over the military, but I am here on official business. I left your _special forces_ in Saxham."

"I'm the _brigadier general_ , they're supposed to report to me! How am I to coordinate defenses for the town if the soldiers are acting independently?!"

"Well, they're not soldiers, and they wouldn't take kindly to you ordering them around." Ardyn chuckled at Loqi's rising dissatisfaction. "They're professionals, you needn't worry about them mucking up your operations." The next part he muttered lowly for only the princess next to him to hear. "Not that they could make this situation worse."

"I won't stand for your shenanigans, Chancellor Izunia! I take my responsibilities seriously and that town is under my jurisdiction. Failure isn't an option!"

"Failure has already transpired, it's why no one's jumping to your aid."

Loqi bristled.

Imperatrix stepped in before things got out of hand. "Brigadier General, would you give us the room? I will call you back in shortly."

"Yes, Your Highness." Loqi sneered at the chancellor and grudgingly stepped outside.

The red-head was as close to the emperor as an outsider to the family could be. He, alongside Imperatrix and Iedolas ran the empire.

Loqi longed to reach a position of power and acclaim like the chancellor.

Ardyn Izunia was a nobody risen to great heights. The seat of chancellor had been unfilled for decades and the man claimed it in three years of service to the emperor.

He would've been a beacon to many wishing to rise on merits and not lineage, if his personality weren't so bothersome! The man was even more aggravating than rumored, making him look foolish in front of the princess!

Loqi decidedly didn't like him. Accomplishments be damned, the chancellor had earned his ire!

"Where were we, my dear?" Ardyn pulled out a chair for Imperatrix and gestured for her to sit.

She crossed the distance to him in record speed.

Even with height and weight on her, he was still harshly slammed into the table with a vexed, barely-restraining-herself princess balling up his scarf and leaning over him.

"Now, now, Impera, lets not be naughty! Anyone could interrupt and get the wrong idea." He clicked his tongue teasingly from beneath her.

"Enough of your games!" Her accent got thicker as her temper flared. "Answer me plainly, Ardyn."

If she pulled any tighter the scarf could become a noose.

"Did Father order my death for the purpose of seizing Insomnia?"

"That was actually my doing, but our dear emperor did sign off on the plan." He replied casually, unmindful of the choking gasp.

More troubling was the young woman pressed against him and causing jolts throughout his body.

"It was you?!"

"Ah, Impera, dear…lean any closer and you'll cross into impropriety." The chancellor drummed his fingers on the table to stop his twitching hands from touching her.

She was practically laying on top of him...

"How dare you treat me so insignificantly! What right do you have to gamble my life?!" Without realizing it, she drew the dagger from her belt and plunged it next to Ardyn's head, severing a few strands of red hair. "What right do you have to betray me?!"

First Glauca and now him, people were stomping on her trust at a fast rate!

"As chancellor, my duty entails maintaining the dignity and prosperity of Niflheim. Your _death_ brought a justified end to the war and has united the empire. Moral is higher than ever!" Ardyn's voice lowered and he lost some of the theatrics, gazing deeply at the princess.

There was hardly any space between their faces and her hair was tickling his nose.

So close...

"I had absolute faith that you would prevail. Greater odds have been stacked against you, and like a true conqueror, you've stood victorious."

The red-head's logical simplification of martyrdom for her kingdom's benefit cut through Imperatrix's haze, leaving behind the hurt.

Her father and Ardyn used her in an intrusive and belittling manner that one would with an insignificant pawn...

For all his games and political maneuvering, the chancellor had never blatantly put her in mortal danger. Had her worth diminished so greatly that she was better off dead?

What had she done wrong?

How had she failed?

"There, there, my dear... I know it's been a trying month for you. Lost and isolated in the cold world..." Ardyn's hands ghosted over Imperatrix's head before settling in place to comfort the distraught woman shaking with pent-up tears.

How amusing she could be, going from strangling him and stabbing a dagger near his head, to weeping on chest.

Aldercapts were fickle creatures.

"It's your fault!" She hissed bitterly, appalled with her emotional transparency.

The princess acknowledged that the resolve needed to hide weaknesses of the heart hadn't been a strength of hers.

Push the right buttons and breakdowns weren't uncommon for Imperatrix. Somehow, the chancellor managed to be present for many of them...

How she loathed displaying tears to Ardyn and being comforted by him. Moments like these made it hard for her to dislike him and resurfaced things she didn't want to acknowledge.

"I'll not deny that. I've been ever so cruel to you." Some of the impishness returned to Ardyn's lilt and he stroked her head, admiring how long the strands of white had become. "Alas, I shall make it up to you by way of a gift, Dearest Princess."

Imperatrix laid still for beat, momentarily relishing in the soothing embrace after being alone for a month.

She sighed after lingering for too long and dragged herself off the chancellor, falling into a chair to cover her face with a hand, emotionally spent.

"What is it?"

He made her wait by fixing his attire, dislodging the dagger and then taking the adjacent seat. He spun the weapon to hold it by the blade and playfully offered it to her.

An answer to her question didn't come until she took the dagger. "Behold, Princess!"

With a flourish his car keys were held aloft.

"Your car? I know how much you love that red devil, your parting with it, even for me, is inconceivable."

"You are most right. I would never give it to you. The Vixen would be destroyed in minutes with your driving!" The teasing increased at her exasperated frown. "No, the gift is in our destination."

"Have you arranged for something special in Saxham? Matter of fact, who came with you? They have to be someone you are familiar with if they are not military. Skills on par with soldiers..." The princess's mind whirled with possibilities. "And they have to be familiar to me, otherwise you would not present them as gifts..."

Ardyn smiled in that mocking and complimentary way of his. "You are so astute...it almost takes the fun out of it."

"Chancellor."

"I'll give you three guess, my dear."

"Chancellor Izunia!"

"Oh, fine, twist my arm!" Ardyn whined, twirling his keys lazily to entertain himself instead. "A squadron isn't necessary when your retainers mean business. They can handle daemons better than the common soldier."

"Nebula and Tempesta...came with you?"

"Yes. It was agreed that I was better suited to do the talking and they stayed at Saxham. You know how your Thundercat hates boring discussions."

Tempesta did hate listening to people drone about things she held no in interest in. Sadly, she had no aptitude for politics. Though her intuition on people tended to be correct.

"How did you know I would be here? This is all…too coincidental..."

"That's a secret I can't tell." Ardyn tapped his lips mischievously. "Shall we let Tummelt back in now? There's much to discuss before we depart."

She straightened into a picture of regality, fixing her hair, fixing her clothing and wiping at her face. Once finished, Imperatrix bore holes into the enigma before her. "You have found yourself on thin ice, Chancellor Izunia. Tread lightly."

"I will sincerely endeavor to win back your favor, Princess Imperatrix."

This would begin another cycle of Ardyn stepping on her toes, lavishing her with gifts and attention until forgiveness was granted, then stepping on another toe, bringing the cycle to a new start.

Complication rolled in secrecy was Ardyn Izunia.

Imperatrix wasn't sure how much more she wanted to put up with.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me?!" Nyx ran his hand through his hair, fidgeting like a jittery cat.

"The chancellor is an ally of the crown. We will be safe in his company." Imperatrix wanted to hit him again for his continued arguing and foul language towards her. "More importantly, he can get us to Saxham much faster than we could walk. This brew moderates the fever, it will not cure Lunafreya."

She in no way planned for Ardyn to become involved with them this early. Nor did she conspire the events hassling the town.

"That asshole waltzed into Insomnia like he owned it and gave us a goddam ultimatum like it was a favor! You want me to get in a car with that lying bastard?! The whole fake-peace-treaty was probably his idea!" He glared at the man below.

The chancellor was leaning on his car without a care in the world.

"I do expect you to get in the car." She replied bluntly, delicately holding Lunafreya's head back so she could pour the remedy into the girl's mouth. "Her life depends on it."

The oracle guzzled down the drink and opened her eyes to stare at Imperatrix. The princess was relieved that the girl had regained consciousness, even if Lunafreya was delirious.

"Mother…mother is that you?" The girl weakly lifted her hand, but gave up once she couldn't get it higher than a foot off the ground.

Imperatrix froze.

"Mo…ther…mother, will you not answer?"

"Shh, shh, Luna." The princess stroked the feverish girl's cheek, heart filling with tenderness when she leaned into her palm. "Everything is going to be alright."

"I have missed you, Mother…"

"I know. Can you drink the rest of this for me? It will help your fever."

"Okay." The oracle drank the rest of the medicine.

Nyx groaned in resignation at the scene. He couldn't stay paranoid with the princess treating Lunafreya with such care. "I don't like this one bit."

"You do not have to, but you must bear through it, as I did when we ventured to Galahd." Imperatrix helped the freezing girl sit up and buttoned her up into a coat.

"I can see how that was a huge leap of faith now. Walking willingly into enemy territory isn't easy…" The glaive moved to help by putting the sleeping bag up and cleaning the area up.

"Can you walk, Luna?" Imperatrix kept the oracle pressed into her side, supporting the girl's weight.

"Yes, Mother. Do not let go." She laid her head on the princess's shoulder and clung to her clothes.

"I will not."

One step forward and Lunafreya wobbled. She leaned more into Imperatrix, wrapping her arm around the woman's shoulder when she felt like falling.

"This will not work…" The princess tugged a little on Lunafreya's arm to free up her breathing.

Decision made, she picked the oracle up.

The girl giggled. "I am too big for this, Mother."

The protest didn't stop the oracle from cuddling into Imperatrix with her arms locked around the princess's neck and their heads knocking against each other.

"Woah, are you going to be able to carry her?" Nyx skeptically eyed the two, lugging all their bags with ease.

"Just like before, she's not giving me a choice!" The princess threw her load up a bit to adjust and make the task easier. "The piggyback ride was less challenging..."

"All in a day's work, _Mother_." He quipped, emphasizing "mother" with a wink.

"Does that make you the _father?_ You spent the morning cutting into her arm and draining out poison. We have both been taking care of her." The princess threw back as she gingerly went down the circular path of the haven.

Umbra and Pryna trotted after her with their heads down.

"We did agree to joint custody, so yeah. Didn't think I'd become a dad so soon." Nyx shrugged, watching carefully if Imperatrix looked like she was about to drop her load. "Wait till Ma hears."

"She will beat you. I recall her warning you to keep your hands to yourself, which you failed."

"Ugh, you heard that?!"

"I can tell her how ungentlemanly you have been."

"Coming from you, she might encourage me."

Imperatrix settled for giving him a dirty look since she was quickly running out of breath.

"Princess, shall I assist you?" Ardyn offered once they were near his car.

Umbra and Pryna blocked his approach with aggressive snarling.

He smiled sardonically at the dogs. "Or not."

"They've got good instincts." Nyx dropped the lighthearted attitude.

"You are…" Ardyn tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Ny-"

"The glaive who fought alongside giants and daemons." The chancellor continued over Nyx. "What a show it was for the emperor and I!"

"A city being destroyed was amusing for you?!"

Imperatrix coughed loudly to prevent a quarrel.

"How rude of me! Let me get the door at least." Ardyn held open the backseat door for Imperatrix to put down Lunafreya.

"Mother, where are you going?" She wouldn't remove her arms from the princess's neck though.

"I am not leaving, I will be in the front." Imperatrix assured, gently tugging the girl off.

"You promise not to leave?"

"Yes, I am not leaving, Luna."

"Okay." She fell backwards onto the seat and the princess maneuvered her legs inside.

Imperatrix took a moment to catch her breath. Her arms tingled from the exercise.

Nyx loaded the bags into the backseat floor after Ardyn announced the trunk was full.

The dogs jumped into the car before the glaive could and sat on the floor with their heads propped on Lunafreya's stomach. He ended up by the window seat with the girl's head in his lap for him to keep tabs on her temperature.

"Princess?" Ardyn indulgenlty waited for her to climb into the front before gliding over to the driver side.

It felt like old times...

Imperatrix comfortable in the passenger seat, raising the hood in favor of the air conditioner, and scoffing at the song playing on the radio.

She really didn't like anything regarding chocobos. One bad fall when she was a child completely turned her against the animals.

The tragedy!

His adoration for chocobos couldn't be shared with her. In fact, she wouldn't hear anything of the creatures.

The chancellor could almost imagine he was driving her to a meeting or taking her on a much needed excursion. The glaive's ferocious glaring, the oracle's breathy mumblings, and growling dogs, however, ruined the daydream.

After an hour of tense driving and Ardyn playing it off, Imperatrix felt a minuscule amount of pity for the red-head.

Being on the receiving end of overt loathing was uncomfortable. While she was sore with him herself, she wouldn't make the issue apparent to others.

The royal family and the chancellor worked too closely together, they had to show a united front.

"How is…Father?" Imperatrix threw him a bone to alleviate the negative energy.

He stopped humming along with the classical selection she chose over the other ridiculous cds he'd been gifted with by different members of her family.

"Iedolas has gone into seclusion, mourning your absence. Euphemia and Venus have started helping me in his confinement. It's a slow process with one of them stuck in daydreams and the other falling back on shyness." Ardyn sighed mournfully. "Truly, your presence has never been more missed in the homeland! I count myself the most devastated next to the emperor. There's _so_ much paperwork and _dozens_ of meeting to handle! And the run-around for every noble is grating! Did I mention the _paperwork_?"

"Unbelievable. You have the nerve to complain to me!" She raised an incredulous eyebrow.

"The fact I'm complaining should be telling. Clearly, my job was only so easy due to the diligence of the emperor and princess."

"Serves you right." The reminder of why he was in this position was implied by her snarky smirk. "Drowning in paperwork is an app punishment. I will be sure to stop doing yours in the future."

"Now, now, cruel doesn't suit you. Paperwork just isn't my forte, _diplomacy is_."

"Yes, that is why I get so many people visiting my office to complain about you."

"Nobles don't like being corrected by a commoner is all. I'm a model of good manners in all my interactions!"

Imperatrix laughed, his politeness could be as deadly as swords at times.

Nyx felt like he was having an out-of-body experience with the front-row seat to the princess and chancellor's glib conversing.

They were off in their own world with him and Lunafreya as intruders.

Was this what the oracle complained he and Imperatrix acted like sometimes? Did the princess just have this effect on people?

"Your Highness, would you be a dear and do me a favor?" Ardyn smiled charmingly at her.

"You have overdue paperwork in here, don't you?" She guessed right-away what the man wanted.

"Sharp as a whistle!"

"Unbelievable." She reiterated, popping open the glove compartment where she knew he kept them.

Stacks of folders and clipboards were inside.

"Ah...I mentioned it's a slow process with your sisters, correct? And I've been all over the place making arrangements for them to go on royal progress." The chancellor hurriedly explained himself in the face of her deadly displeasure.

Imperatrix huffed and held out her hand.

Ardyn dutifully reached inside his coat to hand over his official seal. "Stamp away, Impera."

"Dispense with the familiarity. I made it clear that I am not _Impera_ to you. Most especially, when you dump all this work on me at a moment's notice!"

"Apologies, my dear. I mistakenly believed we were friends again." He tilted closer to whisper. "Princesses don't embrace strangers though."

"A lapse caused by you and not likely to occur again." She pushed against his arm to re-establish space. "Pay attention to the road, Chancellor."

"If I can't be familiar with you, can't you be a little less frigid with me? I get tired of 'Chancellor this' and 'Chancellor that'." He whined in faux misery. "One longs for the old days of conversations without titles."

"I could address you by less favorable nicknames that circulate around court, if it pleases you."

"No need for childish name-calling."

"Why not? You have a love for melodrama." She smiled icily. "Some of them are quite funny."

"You view me so unfavorably. It's heartbreaking!" Ardyn sagged, but the effect was lost with his mirthful grin.

Nyx's testy exclamation startled Imperatrix. "Will two speak English so I know if I need to punch him?! Why even switch languages in the first place?"

He was annoyed with feeling like a third-wheel and the language barrier was nudging his aggravation towards anxiety.

What could they be talking about that they didn't want him to hear?

"There is no need to punch him." Imperatrix said, back to speaking the common tongue.

She hadn't realized their conversation slipped into empire's language of Latin. The paperwork must've automatically caused her to switch and Ardyn followed along.

Latin should've been a requirement for the military of Lucis to learn.

How would they know what their enemies were saying if they didn't know the imperial language? What good would stolen information be if they couldn't read the documents?

Truly, Lucian isolationist policies were damaging to the citizenry.

How many of the immigrants failed to integrate simply because Insomnia cared little for the cultures of other country's, finding its own superior to others?

Lucis was no longer was the dominant nation, English wasn't the only major spoken language in this day and age.

None of those thoughts mattered now...with the city destroyed…and they were insensitive.

"Shame, shame! Harming the person lending you aid isn't polite." Ardyn smirked disdainfully into the rearview mirror. "I can see where the princess's increased aggression has stemmed from. Did she do that to you?"

He pointed to his chin.

"It's none of your business." Nyx grumbled, actively not reaching for his bruised face.

"She has a severe right hook." The chancellor hadn't been on the receiving end of a punch, but the few times he caught her training with Nebula made him wince.

Their fighting was still no where near as brutal as Tempesta's. She broke bones with one hit.

"She punch you too? Wish I could've seen it."

"Oh, nothing so crass as that." Ardyn mussed over the strangulation, receiving a fresh wave of chills that had nothing to do with the ac.

Very scandalous behavior from Imperatrix.

"How did she come to be in such violent company? A princess and former Kingsglaive is an odd mix." He added.

"Nyx is Lunafreya's retainer. They are a packaged deal." Imperatrix hardly looked up from the documents, intently reading a missive regarding Ravus's temporary medical leave from the military and stationing at Tenebrae for the duration of his recovery.

She remembered a charred stump and mad rantings.

Ravus being dotted on by his wife would greatly benefit his health.

"Uh, when did I get hired as that?" All the irritation was wiped away to express Nyx's befuddlement.

"When King Regis tasked you with her safety, making you her first retainer."

"Congratulations! From glaive to retainer, what a transition." Ardyn drawled, stage-whispering to the princess. "His former colleagues will be jealous."

"What? What happened to them?!" Nyx launched forward, knocking Lunafreya off his lap and abruptly waking her. The dogs yapped at him for the mistake. "Calm down, my bad!"

He shoved Pryna out his face and set the sick girl back on his lap.

"Hard to recall off the top of my head. There's _so much_ swimming around up here." The chancellor tapped the side of his head, privately chuckling at the hidden meaning that no one else would get.

"I don't believe that! Quit yanking my chain, you bast-"

"Maybe the answers lie in the black folder." He cut in before the glaive could hiss out a curse.

The princess shuffled the mountain of work around, extracting the specified folder and flipping through it.

"It is a list of Kingsglaive members and their immigration papers."

"Let me see that!" Nyx demanded.

"Those are confidential documents. Not for-" Ardyn pouted as Imperatrix handed off the folder. "Unless you have the favor of a princess..."

"You better uphold whatever deal you cut with them." She scoffed at his put-out countenance.

The princess shouldn't advocate for the turncoats...

No one in the capital liked a traitor, and they tried to kill her, but a deal had to be upheld. Their word was given in good faith and besmirching that would damage their image in foreign affairs.

"Of course, I'm a man of my word. All those that pledged their allegiance to the empire have been pardoned for their previous affiliations and returned to their home countries. I even added the proviso that their countries would receive benefits when I made the deal."

Nyx almost crumpled the paper with Luche's name and the bright red "deceased" at the top corner.

"Guess it was worth it for them..." He growled lowly.

Talking became scarce the rest of the way.

Nyx brooded in the backseat with Umbra whining at him and being ignored.

Lunafreya occasionally mumbled for her mother or for Ravus. Pryna licked at her face, sniffing when she got no response.

Imperatrix drowned herself in the files relating to reconstruction efforts in Insomnia.

Ardyn went back to humming in tune with his cds.

When Saxham came into view the princess leaned out the window. Apprehension grew in her chest at the sight of unfinished construction of the lighthouses.

Without those pillars the town would eventually fall...

The princess would preform her duty and protect the citizens. She would do everything in her power to prevent a repeat of the Saxham Incident.


	8. Chapter 8

Some translation.

 **French**

 **Loyaulte me lie** \- Loyalty binds me. Motto of Richard III of England.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Dearest Princess, you're going to wear a hole into the floor with all that pacing. Do sit and rest your nerves." Ardyn gestured Imperatrix over to the spot next to him on the couch.

She spared him a glance and went back to pacing.

Meditation would serve her better, but the situation at hand weighed too heavily on her mind to attempt tranquillity.

After reaching Saxham, Imperatrix immediately escorted Lunafreya to the medics, leaving Nyx to monitor her condition and be a familiar face when the oracle awakened. The princess couldn't afford to wait by her bedside with her station demanding attention.

Ardyn introduced the princess to the mayor and the man recounted the town's fortunes up til recently.

Saxham did well in the initial months. The senator was pleased with the fertility of the land for crops and the citizens that volunteered to move didn't have any issues settling down.

Truly, the town was meant to be a beacon for future enterprises in Lucis territory. The people would come to see that the empire restored the land and provided for all its people.

The horrors began after the destruction of the military base.

With limited soldiers to parole and defend the lighthouses, somehow daemons found a way into the town and sabotaged the light. Saxham became vulnerable to the Imps and Bussemands, both types known for their disposition of violence.

No wonder Ortho was taking the coward's route and cutting ties. No one, not even the princess, had been able to reach the man.

Fear, however, wasn't a proper excuse for disregarding his duty to Saxham. Imperatrix would have words for Gauis Ortho.

"How did daemons get into the town? The lighthouse formation has proved to be an effective method for repelling them." The princess came to a stop in her pacing. "Something is not right about this…"

"Some mysteries can't be solved. No use berating yourself over it, when you weren't present."

She jumped in fright at the chancellor's voice.

"Did you get so wrapped up in your head as to forget I was present?" He frowned sulkily.

"I am as surprised as you are! Silence _is not_ a specialty of yours." Imperatrix crossed her arms, eyeing the relaxed man with both envy and irritation.

Had Ardyn been sipping tea the whole time? As her mind ran marathons?!

"Oh, I spoke to you multiple times and was ignored." He sighed theatrically, waving his empty teacup around without a care. "How you wound me, Impera."

"I...wound you?!"

Ardyn halted the princess's aggressive approach by way of a peace offering, a second cup of the brew.

"Tea, my dear, clears the mind and yours is ever so chaotic."

She accepted the drink, but denied the offer to sit beside the man, opting instead to sit in the singular chair off to the side.

"Refrain from addressing me intimately, Chancellor Izunia."

"The wound deepens..." He poured himself another cup, loading it with so much sugar that Imperatrix wondered how he could stomach it.

"Explain to me how your meeting with Senator Ortho went. I would like to know more than the flippant news you gave Tummelt." The princess steamrolled over his antics with an eyeroll. "'Senator Ortho will be of no assistance' was far too brief."

She raised the cup to her lips and grimaced from how cold it'd become.

Didn't Ardyn realize the tea was cold?

How could he stand to drink cold and overly sweetened tea?

"You're being so expressive! The new company is to thank, I suppose." The chancellor observed the princess with a keen eye. "I almost thought the recent years had snuffed the light out of you..."

First aggression, followed by tears, afterwords indifference, and now irritation.

At court Imperatrix handled herself in a more controlled fashion, polite mask overshadowing her negative feelings towards a person. The persona had become so consistent with the climax of the war that the re-emergence of her many faces intrigued Ardyn.

"Chancellor, please focus. There are more important matters at hand." Imperatrix straightened in her seat, adopting a refined position in light of the observation.

He wasn't entirely wrong...

Having only Nyx and Lunafreya for company had slackened her courtly mannerisms. The sass, the temper flares, and…punching…weren't appropriate mannerisms for a princess.

The initial hostility shown towards her had colored much of Imperatrix's behavior, but that was no excuse. Even to enemies she was to show respect, that had been a lesson passed down to her.

"The senator was aggravating as usual, throwing barbs the minute I and your retainers stepped foot in his manor. The sheer murderous rage that rolled off Nebula and Tempesta gave me chills!" Ardyn sniggered wickedly, shivering in an exaggerated fashion. "Gauis was lucky those masks hid their feelings. I'm not sure our rotund friend could've withstood the intensity."

Imperatrix's smile was hidden behind her cup.

He continued with increased vigor at spotting her amusement. "As deplorable as his company was, I'm not one to turn down a good wine tasting. Over drinks, Gauis told me one excuse after another for why his household guard was unsuitable for _sieges_."

"He views Saxham as _under siege_ from daemons? Fitting, I suppose…but highly unkind of him to say." The princess scoffed, coming to dislike the senator more and more with each explanation.

Gauis Ortho was recently appointed to the title of senator on a majority vote and the princess hadn't interacted much with the man before the failed treaty.

She had no previous measure of him and could only go off present reports.

"I am not fond of what I am hearing..."

It was one thing to spit at a brigadier general. There wasn't much Tummelt could do in retaliation for being snubbed.

Turning down the chancellor, however, was akin to turning down the emperor. He'd also ignored her hails on the radio.

Who did this man assume he was to rebuff his superiors? To rebuff royalty?

"Then you'll be less fond of what information Nebula gained from the servants."

Imperatrix set her tea down on the table. "Tell me."

"It appears Ortho has a strong dislike of the royal family and he isn't alone in that sentiment. Others of like mind have been known to pay him visits ." Ardyn tilted his head, smile taking on an acidic quality that made the amber in his eyes stand out. "Treason against the crown might be presumptuous…but he is...certainly conspiring for his own benefit."

"I knew your appearance here was too irregular. How long have these doubts been circulating in your mind?"

"For Gauis? The moment he gave a false report at the monthly council meeting." The chancellor rested his cheek on his knuckles. "An epidemic striking a group of citizens given clean bills of health before they emigrated? Anyone would be suspicious. The man is either too full of himself or a buffoon."

"Which are you leaning towards?"

"Buffoon. He's from a rich, old, noble family. His rank hasn't been earned, but bought and manipulated by a different player. One not so open in their motives."

Imperatrix's foot began its circular movements .

The senate consisted of fifteen lord that answered to the current ruler, and if in appointment, the chancellor. The assembly had been established after the empire grew too large for the monarch to fully govern all the territories with equal attention.

The senators' jobs were to maintain order, stability, and peace in the region they were assigned. Usually, a commander and his legion were allocated to the area as well to provide support and protection when they weren't deployed on the field.

The separation of military and senate was necessary. The ruler should never fear a mere lord raising a private army against them.

The empire was governed by an absolute monarchy and for years her father complained how some among the council wished to limit the crown's authority as the Lucian's government had.

The emperor would dismantle the senate before Niflheim became a constitutional monarchy and the Tellus Aldercapts reduced to figure-heads like the Lucis Caelums.

Her father was especially bitter of the council's machinations while his mother held the regency.

Iedolas Tellus Aldercapt became the rightful emperor at the tender age of two and many were fearful of the crown being shouldered by a toddler and a woman married into the royal family.

A few senators had come very close to stripping the Aldercapts of the throne and naming themselves as de-facto leaders.

The entire senate was both ally and enemy, carefully balanced and scrutinized at all times by the royal family.

"Fret not, Princess. I will do my duty as chancellor and safeguard the white empire."

Imperatrix shifted to the side and shuddered from his sudden closeness. Ardyn leaned over the side of the chair, smirking down at her.

Wasn't he just sitting across from her? How did he…

"That is a vague answer, concealing multiple interpretations." The princess refused to back away from the approach, despite knowing she should.

"Is that so? I like to think my stance is obvious."

"Enlighten me, Chancellor."

He invaded more of her personal space, nose almost brushing hers. "An Aldercapt _is_ the empire, therefore you are synonymous with Niflheim. My actions are always to your benefit."

Imperatrix spun away from the intensity of amber and reminded herself to breathe. "I...thank you for your loyalty..."

"It is given freely."

The princess's hand being lifted and a kiss pressed to the glove made her whirl back around.

"Loyaulte me lie."

She outright laughed at Ardyn and he had the gall to pout. "Don't go quoting your chosen motto to me! Loyalty looks like treachery most days from you."

"Wounding me again! It's _agony_ being out of favor with you, my dear." The chancellor caressed her knuckles with another soft kiss.

She snatched her hand back, stealing her nerves against the overt pandering and calculated affections meant to soften her fury. Her body moved and before she knew it, Imperatrix was back to pacing throughout the hotel room.

"Here you go again! I'd best sit before your pacing makes me dizzy." Ardyn returned to his place on the couch, sluggishly leaning on his knuckles to watch the princess.

Imperatrix had lost more weight and her skin darkened from the increased sunlight. As he noticed earlier, her hair had grown past her shoulders, returning the lost elegance to the princess that was forced to dress and behave boyishly to appease others. Sadly, that saving grace was ruined by how worn and dirty her spare clothing became from a life on the road.

The current look wasn't a presentable appearance for royalty.

"Ah, Princess?" The chancellor called, sighing at her penchant for rampant worrying and inability to be idle.

He took ahold of her and tugged when she instantly tried to draw away from him.

"Stop pestering me!" Imperatrix snapped.

A barbed response would've been given to anyone that tested his patience, but Ardyn held a special sort of leniency for her.

"Instead of walking in circles and giving me a headaches, why don't you freshen up?" Some vitriol still slipped out, despite his affable air.

"I don't have time for a bath! I need to be ready the minute Nebula and Tempesta return."

Or ready for anything. Imperatrix needed something to do!

The soldiers had more or less told her to bugger off when she offered her assistance. There wasn't much the princess could help them with in terms of construction since she had no knowledge of the lighthouse's schematics, and honestly, magitek made little sense to her.

Getting the towers up and functioning was the main priority. Imperatrix would do nothing to impede them.

Helping at the temporary clinic was also a complete no. The princess had basic training in first-aid, not enough to be of assistance, and the place was filled with injured people. The privates didn't need an extra body loitering in their domain. They were busy enough.

The only option left to her was to await the arrival of her attendants and plan around their intelligence.

The waiting was driving Imperatrix up the wall!

"Don't get offended, my dear..." Ardyn patted her hand, delivering his bad news with a tight-lipped smile. "But you're not looking your best. It's a bit jarring…"

Her eyes travelled down to her clothing.

The white coat could barely be considered white anymore, the red blouse had holes, the combat boots were coming apart at the soles. Her leggings were the only article still in good shape.

Imperatrix dreaded to know how tangled and dirty her hair was.

"Princess?"

She sharply inhaled.

"Dearest, it's not _that_ bad. We all understand that you've had to _rough it_ for a month." The chancellor's reassurances and soothing rubs on her hand did nothing for Imperatrix.

The princess continued to hyperventilate, yanking her hand away to cover her deeply reddening face.

To have the chancellor tell her she looked wretched meant that her subjects saw her in an unseemly fashion!

It was one matter for her to look atrocious in her armor after coming from a battle. It was entirely different for her to appear and smell barbaric from running.

How could she have made such a monumental blunder?! Image was everything for royalty!

Six!

Her father would be livid! Presenting a bad impression like this to the soldiers and mayor was a horrible reflection of him.

The shame!

"This is quite the fit." Ardyn chuckled, removing the hands from her face and looking her in the eye. "I'm sure they were too stunned by your presence to notice the attire."

"Don't patronize me!" Imperatrix shied away from him, going redder by the minute. "In fact, get out since I'm unsuitable to look upon!"

"You're throwing out words I didn't use." He chuckled some more at her expense.

There was never a dull moment with the imperial princess.

"Just get out of my room, Ardyn!" She spun him around and began shoving the man towards the door.

"There's no need to be so forceful! That ex-glaive is a terrible influence on you." The chancellor whined, slightly slumping backwards to make things more difficult for her.

"Get out!" The princess huffed, practically being overwhelmed by the taller man slumping into her. "Cut it out, Ardyn!"

"But we were having such a nice tea time! It's been _ages_ since we chatted over tea."

"Why are you so heavy? Stop fooling around!" She would fall to the floor if he slumped in her arms any more.

"I'm getting on in my years. You can't be so rough with me, Dearest."

"Just get out already!" Imperatrix gave a final heave once they were at the door.

The door was slammed shut just as Ardyn twirled around with more flowery speech on his tongue. The whining became muffled and she ignored him, heading for the bathroom.

A fedora on the floor stopped her, mocking her in place of its owner.

The urge to stomp on it was strong, but pushed down. Based on how infrequently he was seen without it, Imperatrix knew the chancellor would be incensed if she damaged it.

Rarely had the princess been the target of his cold anger and she wasn't going to provoke it over something trivial.

"Princess Imperatrix?"

She nearly dropped the fedora from the man's musical knocking on the door in place of the whining.

"I'll have a change of clothes brought to your room…and perhaps a meal. Do take care of my hat and try not to wear a hole into the ground."

The fluttering of knocks stopped.

Imperatrix breathed, loosening her tight grasp on the fedora. Ardyn infuriated her like no other...

For the next two hours the princess groomed herself in the bathroom, exiting in a renewed mood and collapsing on the bed in a robe.

A variation of her commander's uniform laid beside her.

This one differed in style, less utilitarian and more ornate with the violet and gold diamond patterning and the red trim on the white coat. The shoulder pads were sharpened. Around the waist and chest area the material was designed to fit the form.

The pants weren't baggy and followed the style of the coat. Black leather gloves and heeled boots had been provided.

Most startling was the red cape with a chain attachment of twin dragons from her house sigil clasped at the top.

This uniform…was fit for a princess. All that was missing was a tiara befitting her rank.

"I have not worn anything effeminate in so long…" Imperatrix whispered, hands hovering with a tremble over the beautiful clothing. "Why would Ardyn give me these? Father...would not approve…"

The issue of the heir's gender became such a heated discussion among the council that her father enforced clothing restrictions on the crown princess.

Dresses and skirts were allowed for state affairs only. Any other time she was expected to be dressed either in her uniform or boyish attire.

The decrepit senators denied Imperatrix the simple joy of being a woman.

"There are no coincidences with that man. He has given me these for a reason. But for what?" She sighed and left the clothes alone, moving to the table where a covered tray and fresh pot of tea were left for her.

Funnily enough, Ardyn arranged for her to be served breakfast without the meat components. The staff were sure to have given him incredulous looks for ordering breakfast in the evening.

"I wonder if Nyx has eaten. I shall have to take him something."

Not one to waste food, Imperatrix ate everything in spite of the nerves still ratting in her stomach. After consuming the last of her tea, the princess shed the robe in favor of her new clothes.

"I feel revitalized. More at peace in these…" She hummed contentedly, running her hands down the coat.

If the sword at her hip were Borealis and Australis strapped on her arm, she'd be complete.

Her eyes lowered to the fedora sitting innocently on the table.

"He is making it very difficult to stay displeased…" The princess muttered mutinously before she grabbed the cherished item of the chancellor.

Imperatrix went downstairs to the front desk to place an order of sandwiches for Nyx.

The staff were unaware of the whereabouts of Ardyn, merely that he stepped out with a message for the princess to rest. She wasn't going to follow that directive and took the sandwiches once they were given to her, leaving for the hotel.

Some of the townsfolk lingered outside, watching the ongoing construction. Some of them gaped at her.

The princess smiled at the stares. She didn't spot many children outside, and the ones she did, were closely guarded by their parents.

The children brought up uncomfortable thoughts of the bloody Saxham incident...

The young were the first to be kidnapped by the daemons and caused the people to spiral into depression, leading to more daemons and more disappearances.

It would not happen again!

On her honor as both a princess and a mortal, Imperatrix would not let her people suffer the same misfortune as the previous residents.

"Princess Imperatrix!" Nyx stood up from his chair, eyes popping open wide at the newly dressed woman.

A passing private shushed him out of consideration for the others bedridden and resting. He waved apologetically to them.

"This is the first time you have given me the proper address." She teased him.

The glaive had called her princess and stood at her arrival. Even if the actions were caused by shock and not respect, she'd rub it in his face.

Nyx leered at her, remaining speechless.

"And you have no words. This is the greatest compliment you could give me." Imperatrix sat on the bed, laying her hand over Lunafreya's forehead and finding it a normal temperature.

The poison had been cured. Her arm was stitched back together and a healthy pallor.

The oracle was out of danger.

"They're being careful with the potion usage. My cut wasn't life-threatening so they used stitches." Nyx at last spoke when the princess traced the around the mentioned area.

"This will scar…" Imperatrix mussed.

"Scars suddenly bother you?" The glaive sat back down.

He'd seen a fair few on her back and those hands of hers featured a lot of callouses and faded cuts. She wasn't a stranger to scarring.

Neither was he for that matter, the entire right half of his body was proof of that. The flame-licked skin was on the mend, but he wouldn't be retaining his old dashing looks.

"No, the implication does. This will be the first of many." Her hand moved back to Lunafreya's forehead, combing through the shiny locks.

Strange, how the oracle could literally embody light...

When her life hung in the balance, all color appeared to drain from the girl, reminiscent of an unsaturated photo. Now the radiance was returning to her being, outshining most the other patients lying dull and unresponsive in cots.

"That's pretty pessimistic. Haven't you been saying how you'll keep her safe?" Nyx smirked. "And didn't you assign me as her retainer? She's safe under my watch."

"The reality is, she will get hurt. It becomes a matter of lessening those occurrences for us."

"Are you feeling bad about the poison?" He blurted over her, fixing her with a "are you stupid" glare.

"I brought food if you want it." She held out the bag, avoiding an answer.

"Sooooo?" Nyx swiped the sandwiches, persisted with his unimpressed stare.

"How can I not feel guilty?" The princess admitted.

"I know I got mad, sorry about that... I don't blame you and I don't think you tried to kill her." He shrugged between bites. "Who knows, maybe the queen's venom worked differently. Quit blaming yourself."

"Hmm, that is a good guess." Imperatrix looked at her own arm, where she'd been struck, but suffered no drawbacks. "The poison would be different between a worker and a queen. The sting I received did nothing."

"Did you hear me? Cause that's not the take-away."

She sighed. "Yes, Nyx. Heeding your words is not so simple."

"I know you're used to being in sibling-mode and it's hard to come out of it…" The glaive sat up, saddening as Selena's face popped into his mind. "You've gotta chill. You're not responsible for everything. And don't try to be, otherwise they'll hate your guts."

The princess gave him a tender smile that definitively got some fluttering from Nyx.

Next to the one she gave him while leaving Insomnia, this was the second genuine smile he got from her.

"Hey, don't go looking at me like that. I might get the wrong idea." He leaned forward in the chair, back to suggestively regarding her.

"You loved your sister and she loved you. We are not so different, Nyx."

They shared the experience of sibling love.

"Maybe, Princess. My sister beats all of yours in cuteness though."

Imperatrix's hand froze in Lunafreya's hair.

"What did you say?" She hissed.

"Selena was cuter than all your sisters combined." The glaive repeated challengingly, getting right in her face.

"Those are fighting words, Nyx Ulric. Do you wish to finally have our match?" She pushed him back to his chair and he laughed. "I have been trying to spare you the taste of dirt from when I beat you into the ground. But you continue to try me!"

"Bring it on, Princess!" He grinned at her looming over him, tempted to kick her leg and make the woman fall into his lap. "When I win, I'll finally get that kiss you owe me."

"Relentless swine."

"Uptight control-freak."

The moaning of the oracle halted further blustering.

"Will you two stop it…" Lunafreya mumbled drowsily.

The glaive and princess immediately hovered over the girl, all relieved smiles for her recovery. The oracle was warmed by their presence and apparent joy.

"Where are Pryna and Umbra?"

Imperatrix giggled softly and swiped the distracting strands out of Lunafreya's eyes. "Moping outside."

When the princess saw them, they were too sad to interact with the children wanting to play with them. Umbra at least made an effort by licking the kid's hands, while Pryna turned her nose up at anyone that touched her.

"What the hell? The first thing she asks is where's her dogs?" Nyx brushed his arm against Imperatrix's. "What're we going to do with our child?"

"Good question." She nudged him off.

Lunafreya blinked in confusion. "When did you two have a child?"

The two snorted at her.

 _"Princess Imperatrix?"_

The laughter ended.

Lunafreya and Nyx looked around for the speaker but found no one. Imperatrix lifted her overcoat to remove the walkie talkie strapped to her thigh.

"Go ahead." She spoke into the object.

 _"Your retainers are a few miles away. The second lieutenant requests yours and the retainers presence for the meeting in the hotel."_

"Thank you, I will be there after retrieving them."

The line went dead and the princess re-attached the device to her thigh.

"What is going on? Where are we?" Lunafreya regained some of her wits and her eyes darted about from glaive and princess.

"Now she asks the right questions." He shook his head.

"I have not the time to explain. All you need do is rest, Lunafreya." Imperatrix gave a final stroke to the girl's face, fixing the blanket over her and standing to face Nyx.

"You gonna ask me to stay?"

"Yes, you are _her retainer_. Your place is by her side." The princess crossed her arms. "Are you going to fight me on it?"

"Not if you come get me before the sun sets. I won't sit here doing nothing."

"Very well, take this time to inform your liege of the situation. I will return for you later."

"Wait, don't I get a sweet goodbye, too?"

Imperatrix contemplated his cocky air for a moment. She inched closer and he scooted to the edge of the bed to meet her.

"Stop being so insolent, Nyx!" The princess whispered warningly into his ear and pulled away before he could whisper back.

His chuckles and Lunafreya's bewildered sighs stayed in Imperatrix's mind as she left the clinic.

The sun had gone lower and night would be upon them in a few hours.

Less people were outside and the soldiers were in more of a rush in their work on a singular lighthouse. That pillar of light needed to be protected at all costs.

How to go about it with so little men? Construction needed to continue and that would require many hands, leaving few for defense.

What to do?

"Princess, come to meet your dear attendants?" Ardyn smiled at Imperatrix as she approached him.

"Where on Eos did you get opera glasses?" She stood before him with her arms crossed, skeptically blinking her eyes at the red-head lounging on the hood of his equally red car. "Why are you even out here?"

"From my pocket of course and I just love reunions." He tilted his head, delighting in the magnified and clear view of the imperial princess through his binoculars. "Don't you look exquisite?"

"Why have you given me these clothes? You are aware of the restriction?" To her credit, only a slight blush belied her bashfulness at his study of her.

"That ghastly decree!" The chancellor flipped his binoculars closed and stored them away.

He shifted to make room on the hood and beckoned Imperatrix to sit.

"What are you playing at now?" She arranged the cape over her arm and sat, ignoring his pleased grin for obliging him.

"We're entering a new phase and it's high time we renew your image. No more parading you as a man, when we should be celebrating you as a woman, who will one day rule."

"Pretty worlds that will not hold in council. They will reject your campaign, as the five have been against my right to rule since birth." The princess exhaled tiredly. "They control the majority vote on the decree. Why are you stirring up old trouble?"

The five families that stood behind the Aldercapts when the empire first came into prominence. They often view themselves as highly as the royal family since their spots in the senate were always guaranteed.

Ancient, power-hungry fools those patriarchs were.

"Your father is old and a male heir isn't likely to come. It's time for those fossils to open their eyes." Ardyn threw his arms out wide, hands framing the lowering sun. "Change is afoot."

The princess uneasily surveyed the malicious glee in his expression.

Her country had seen unimaginable change from Ardyn's duration as chancellor, especially after Shiva's attack. The entire nation's way of life had to be altered to suit the dramatic climate change.

From his progressive views in medicine and technology, the nation saw a change in the economy. His disdainful contempt of nobility saw their influence slowly diminished and the common citizen's increased.

The emperor, princess, and chancellor worked so well together due to the shared core-values. Equality of opportunities, guaranteed aid, and an emphasis on education and arts were held close to three's hearts.

Imperatrix wanted her nation to be heralded as Solheim reborn. All her hard work was to realize the family's long dream of a kingdom of sophistication, spirituality, culture, and understanding.

"Here they come." Ardyn slid off his car to bend in front of Imperatrix. "If you would be so kind, my dear."

He flicked his hand over the top his head. The princess returned the fedora to its perch and stood with the chancellor's assistance. She took slow, measured steps as a motorcycle drew closer.

This was the longest she'd ever been separated from both her retainers.

"They're coming in very fast." Ardyn frowned, shaking his head in exasperation. "Is Tempesta really going to run us over?"

"I would not put it past her."

"Perhaps we should move, Your Highness." He reached out to pull her to safety. Imperatrix merely raised her hand for him to stop. "Dearest, that girl will run you over. How shall I explain that to your father?"

"She will not." The princess walked toward the speeding motorcycle, shoulders set and chin up.

"Imperaaaaaa!" Tempesta screamed over the roar of the bike.

Moments before they could collide, the bike braked hard, forcing it into the air for precious seconds that Nebula spent latched onto his seat, until it fell back to the ground and he sprawled out as much as he could in the cramped sidecar.

The princess stared into the driver's visor as the dust settled.

The younger Besithia leaped off her seat to stomp up to Imperatrix. Nebula wearily called out for his sister.

She was deaf to his warnings, drawing her arm back for a rapid punch that the princess caught in her fist and winced from the impact.

"Think fast, Shitty Princess!" Tempesta's livid voice came out distorted from her mask.

A powerful kick sent the woman flying into the chancellor's frantic arms and the two went crashing to the ground.

"Tempy, you pest! That's not how you treat the princess and chancellor." Nebula scolded her.

"Shut the hell up, you lazy bastard! Impera deserved it for all the stress she's caused us."

He got out the sidecar and seized his sister's shoulders to stop her from dishing out more physical assaults to the downed individuals.

"If you're worried just say so. Stop using your fist to communicate."

She knocked him off by hitting the side of his mask. "I said shut up!"

"Reunions. Marvelous, aren't they?" Ardyn sighed wistfully from the ground as the princess's mind came back to reality. "Are you alright, my dear?"

She rolled off him and started dry-heaving from the blow to her stomach.

"That's a no." He rubbed her back. "At least you're not coughing out blood like the other times…"

Imperatrix clenched his coat after the coughs calmed, rising with his help and scowling at the shorter retainer.

"Is that how you greet the crown princess, Tempesta Besithia?" She wheezed out.

"Absolutely not, Your Highness! I take responsibility for her unruly behavior and will punish her accordingly." Nebula sank to his knees with a fist enclosed over his heart, head bowed respectfully.

His sister scoffed at the threat.

"I am eternally grateful to be kneeling before you. I feared you lost in Insomnia."

Imperatrix approached him and laid her hand on his helmet. "Thank you, Nebula. At least one of you still has manners."

Tempesta huffed petulantly before dropping into submission like her brother. "Never had'em in the first place, Princess."

"And probably never will." She placed her hand on the younger retainer next, smile overtaking her reprimand. "Are you going soft? That hit only winded me."

"I went easy out of pity."

"Ahhh."

The princess was then almost barreled over by Tempesta's fierce hug. Imperatrix eagerly returned the embrace.

"Nobody gets to kill you except me, Shitty Princess!" She lifted her head from the woman's chest. "Aren't you gonna hug her, _Mr. Communication_?"

Nebula groaned, rose from his bow and hugged the shorter two girls.

"Yes, simply marvelous..." Ardyn chuckled to himself, reminded of a faraway memory.

The idyllic reunion was foreshadowed by the coming dangers of the setting sun.

Tonight, Saxham would either fall or be saved.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Allow me to introduce my retainers…" Imperatrix trailed off as Tempesta promptly put Nyx in a chokehold and forced him onto the ground.

In tune with his sister, Nebula leveled a rifle at the glaive's forehead.

"What the hell?! I blinked and this?!" He struggled against his female captor.

"A blink's all it takes, Hero." Tempesta cackled meanly. "C'mon, Neb. Put a hole in him!"

The gun's safety clicked off.

"Nyx Ulric. You're the one who took the princess hostage. A bullet to the head is a generous death." He pressed his weapon right against Nyx's forehead, finger caressing the trigger.

"Woah, woah! Control your masked killers, Imperatrix!" The glaive yelled, receiving another painful nudge from the gun in return.

"A plebeian doesn't give orders to the crown."

"Kill the bastard already! Nobody messes with Impera, but us." Tempesta tightened her grip on Nyx, shoving him face-first to the ground and pounding on his back with her boot.

"With pleasure."

The gun went off.

Nyx howled from the surging pain in his shoulder and cursed up a storm while glaring fiercely at Imperatrix when she kneeled to help him.

"Are you kidding me?! You get your lackeys to kill me because you don't have the balls to do it?!"

The princess reached behind him, pulling out the customized dart Nebula used and showing it to the pissed man. "If I desired your death, I would kill you in single combat. A warrior's death, you have earned that from me, at least."

"What is that?! It felt like I got shot!" He sat up, feeling all around his shoulder for a bullet hole and finding none.

"Custom-made to simulate the pain of getting shot. Effective, without the mess of a real one." Nebula retrieved the dart and reloaded it into the gun. "Nothing beats watching someone bleed out though."

"Or having their nuts crushed." Tempesta added.

"Enough, you two. I will not tolerate further harm to him." Imperatrix scolded the snickering siblings and held out her hand for Nyx, which he took grudgingly and let her pull him up. "How do you both even know that it was Nyx who took me into custody?"

"The Red Fop told us and said you were still being harassed by the punk. Don't know why you're covering his ass." Tempesta adopted a haughty pose of nonchalance with her arms holed up behind her head and foot scratching at the back of her other leg. "Let us kill him for much trouble he's caused us on the field!"

"Wait, is she talking about the chancellor?" Nyx interrupted Imperatrix from responding, breaking into a fit of laughter. "Red fop?! Good one!"

The princess tuned him out, proceeding with the original train of conversation. "How would Ardyn have known? He was not with me in the city."

"Reports from General Glauca." Nebula answered.

The princess and glaive stiffened.

"Has there…been any word from the general since The Fall?" She already knew, but still felt like asking.

"No, Your Highness."

Tempesta ended the heavy atmosphere by loudly growling and stomping her foot. "Can we get to kicking ass already?! Where the hell are the daemons?!"

The group had been waiting at the edge of the town as the first defense for too long in her opinion.

"That's my cue. Look after the princess, Tempy." Nebula waved lethargically and left to take up position on a roof with his sniper rifle.

"Don't worry, I'll kill the savage if he tries anything."

Nyx scoffed at the semi-playful lunge, cracking his knuckles in preparation. "I let you win that round. Try it again and see if I don't knock you down, kid."

"Who the hell are you callin' kid?!"

"You, pipsqueak! That getup might hide your face and voice, but I can tell you're a bigger brat than Lunafreya."

"I'm gonna kill you!"

Imperatrix grabbed the back of Tempesta's uniform, holding her back from Nyx. "Stop fooling around. We need to get into position."

"Impera saved your life, Savage Shit!" The enraged female stomped off, yelling intelligible curses.

Nyx blankly scrutinized the princess. " _Interesting attendants_. Makes sense that your retinue would be so colorful."

Appearance-wise, the glaive couldn't say much. He had no clue what they looked like under the masks, but their outfits spoke volumes.

Both retainers wore the traditional colors of white in their uniforms.

Tempesta's clothing was a patterned skintight-bodysuit with grey gauntlet gloves that Nyx swore he glimpsed lighting cackle off. Similarly armored boots covered her long legs. The girl's mask was more of a biker helmet...in the shape of a cat.

Clearly, she had no issue with baring her body to the world. The brat had all the confidence and deadliness of a coeurl.

Where Tempesta's outfit was sensual, Nebula's was conservative.

He wore a plain coat with matching pants. The boots and gloves were black. Every inch of his skin was covered. Varying guns were attached to his figure. His mask was actually the simple headgear of a biker.

A cold killer.

The one to look out for was Nebula.

The only thing their uniforms had in common was the twin dragon livery emblazoned on their chests. A symbol of their connection to the royal family. It stirred up feelings nostalgia for Nyx.

The livery of the kingsglaive had been destroyed on his patched-up uniform.

He belonged to no one...

"Gods! How damn long is this gonna take?!" Tempesta fell onto her butt. "I'm freaky tired and hungry!"

"Are you always this loud? Reminds me of Libertus..." Nyx turned his flashlight onto her, not that he needed to.

The white uniforms made the loudmouth and Imperatrix fairly easy to spot in the darkness of the night. Niflheim's fixation with white made a lot of sense in this case...

"Shuddup! You weren't running around looking for missing children, were you?" She threw a pebble at the glaive and he hissed at the impact. "I'm already annoyed we didn't find them. Your Lucian mug is pissing me off by the minute."

"I'm Galahdian by birth, moved to Insomnia after it was attacked by Niffs."

"At this point, everything outside of imperial control is basically Lucian territory. You're all western shits to me."

Nyx sharply exhaled and mumbled to himself. "Don't hit this girl just because she's got a smart mouth."

Imperatrix left Tempesta and Nyx to their vicious bickering. She alternated her attention between the walkie connecting her to Loqi and the soldiers, and her ear piece connecting her to Nebula and Tempesta.

Despite his injuries, Loqi arrived with the rest of the garrison and insisted on coordinating his troops in person since he couldn't participate in battle.

The princess spent a good thirty minutes shutting down his protests before he settled for even that.

Defensive maneuvers were being handled by the brigadier general. His medical officer was handling relief efforts for the inevitable casualties.

The soldiers were distributed between working on the lighthouse and guard positions throughout the town. The citizens barricaded themselves in their homes after the warning alarm rang.

The most important objectives were making sure no more children were taken and the core remain undamaged in the lighthouse.

All they needed to do was get the crystal running and the town would be safe.

Imperatrix, her retainers, and Nyx would be the offensive force, meeting the daemons before they reached the town.

The natural lighting of the buildings prevented the creatures from materializing directly in the Saxham. Nebula would pinpoint them with his lens, inform the team on the ground, and eliminate the daemons that slipped through.

Really, Nebula and Tempesta would be doing most the daemon slaying. Their magitek equipment was designed to combat the night creatures.

The princess and Nyx were more suited for support. They should've been in the safety of the hotel meeting room with the other officials, or in the clinic with Lunafreya, but both were fighters and intensely disliked being sidelined.

 _"Impera, Tempy, you've got a group of Imps incoming."_ Nebula announced over the comm.

"YYYYeah! Let's get this started!" Tempesta flipped to her feet, slamming her fist together and creating electricity from the action.

"Holy crap! I really did see lighting..." Nyx took a few steps back from her electric display.

"Prepare yourself, Nyx. The enemy is upon us." The princess drew her sword and clicked a button on the headpiece.

A visor extended across her eyes, distorting her vision into the green focus of night vision. She preferred the one in her own helmet, but Imperatrix would have to make do with Nebula's spare.

"Woah, are those like…night-vision goggles? That's high-tech. Why don't I get one?!" The glaive complained, clipping his flashlight onto the strap provided by the military.

He nocked his bow with an arrow, inwardly deflating at the limited amount he was able to scavenge from the bees.

What Nyx wouldn't give for the convenience of magic...

"Could you afford it with your crappy paycheck, Savage?" Tempesta taunted the glaive, hunching into an offensive stance.

"Normally, I'd get mad, but the kingsglaive did get awful pay compared to the crownsguard. Compared to all the other native workers. Freaking xenophobes!"

"Focus." Imperatrix ordered as the Imps came within range. "Tempesta, charge them."

"Don't even gotta ask!" She roared, zipping forward with lighting crackling all around her.

The Imps were scattered by the explosive attack, creating an opening for the princess to mow down the crippled creatures.

Nyx shot the ones that kept disappearing and re-appearing, slowing down their movements for them to be taken down by one of the females.

Beams of light from Nebula's rifle hit enemies that escaped their range.

It seemed like they were making progress, but more Imps materialized and they weren't as inclined to fight as their fallen comrades. A group peeled off, heading for the town.

"Nebula, shoot them!" Imperatrix instructed.

 _"I can't get them all, they're too sporadic and my gun's overheating."_

A carefully aimed shot destroyed two at once.

"Tempesta, I'll leave the outer perimeter to you! Go crazy."

She cackled and pounded into the Imps with more vigor, losing herself in the thrill of battle.

The daemons had quantity but not quality. The low-level monsters would pose no real threat to the younger Besithia.

"Are you coming with me, Nyx?"

"I'm glad you asked instead of barking at me." He replied with a grin. "Lead the way, Princess."

"You are just so easy to yell orders at..." She rolled her eyes, claiming the walkie to turn to the channel for Loqi and warn him of the incoming attack.

The glaive and princess rushed after the Imps. The monsters constant teleporting made it difficult for Nebula to get clean hits as his rifle's core overheated.

Too many made it to Saxham.

Guns went off in the streets and were accompanied by screams and ghastly laughter. The Imp's vindictive nature was challenging for the soldiers to counter. The low visibility and their overall inexperience wasn't helping.

The men were becoming too reliant on machinery to fight properly...

Between Loqi's Cuirass and the magitek soldiers, the soldiers probably thought they were safe from this kind of combat.

More proof that the empire need to be weaned off their technological superiority.

"On your feet, soldier!" Imperatrix commanded as she defended the young man from an Imp.

Without Nebula or Tempesta's gear it was harder to take them down with a regular sword. Fatal blows hardly phased them, unless they were dealt consistently.

"P-Pr-Princess!" He stayed shuddering on the ground.

"Get up!" She yanked him to his feet.

"Look out!" The soldier fired on the Imp thought to be downed, finally sending it back to the abyss. "I-It's g-gone…"

"The battle isn't over! Gather your wits and re-group with the others."

"Y-Yes, Your Highness..."

He ran.

"Impera!"

She swung around and was almost knocked over by Nyx. The glaive steadied her with a death grip on her arms.

"Lunafreya's gone!" He gushed out in one breath.

"What?! The clinic was barricaded!"

"Somehow the idiot snuck out. We've gotta find her!"

"It's one thing after another with this girl! I must stop this behavior." Imperatrix huffed impatiently, going for the walkie, but Nebula's voice over the comm took precedence.

 _"The lighthouse will come under attack by a Bussemand that slipped through. Tempy is engaging the others."_

"They've shown themselves?!" The princess looked to the sky, watching it illuminate with flashes of lighting. "Take them out by whatever means. They are not to enter Saxham!"

Bussemands were the downfall of the previous inhabitants.

 _"Are you authorizing for us to go all out?"_

"Yes, as long as your fighting is contained to the outside of the town."

 _"Understood. Did you catch that, Tempy?"_

 _"Alright, alright, alright! The Thundercat is going to light this shit up!"_ Tempesta screamed over the line, making Imperatrix wince and almost tear out the earpiece.

"You alright?" Nyx touched her shoulder.

"Fine, thank you." She shrugged him off and relayed Nebula's message.

"Those things are tough to take down with magic. How the heck are we supposed to do it with these?!" The glaive scowled at his bow. He'd run out of arrows too, making it more obsolete.

For the thousandth time Nyx wished for his magic...

"We will have to manage. Come on, to the lighthouse!"

They took off again, helping the soldiers when possible and taking out Imps.

Loqi called the princess on the walkie.

 _"Your Highness, I have a girl claiming to be the oracle attempting to barge her way into the lighthouse. Is Lady Lunafreya truly in your company?!"_

Imperatrix gave Nyx her most exasperated frown.

"Hey, don't go giving me the stink-eye. I told her to stay put, even told the guy in charge to strap her down if she tried escaping!" She dodged him attempting to poke at her cheek. "Princesses do their own thing as you know."

"Yes, Brigadier General. The girl is Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. Why is she trying to access the lighthouse?" The princess spoke into the walkie instead of engaging Nyx further.

 _"The oracle believes she can get the light on. The men still haven't repaired the core. Any meddling from her could cause setbacks."_

Imperatrix held off responding.

The brigadier general had a point...

Then again, Lunafreya had innate magic. If anyone could create light it would be her...

"Give her access, Tummelt." She placed her faith in the girl.

 _"Pardon?! Forgive me, but I don't agree with this, Your Highness! Lady Lunafreya is known to loathe all things imperial. What if she intentionally sabotages the core?!"_

"No, he didn't. Gimme that!" Nyx made a grab for the walkie and the princess repelled him.

"Stop it, Nyx! These are valid concerns!"

"Valid, my ass! Lunafreya wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Control yourself, Glaive!" Imperatrix advised him, pushing against his chest for space.

She wouldn't bother correcting his hyperbole.

Lunafreya could and had hurt more than flies in her time with them.

"Brigadier General, this is a critical situation. If the oracle believes she can bring forth the light then I am willing to give her chance. I will take full responsibility for her actions."

Loqi was silent on the other line. _"Princess…"_

"Is your pride more important than the safety of this town?! Are you willing to risk numerous lives for something so inconsequential?!"

She understood his adamant desire to correct his mistakes, but there was more on the line.

 _"No."_ Loqi's embarrassment could be felt through the radio. _"I will order the troops to stand down for her."_

The line went dead and Nyx stared at her.

"Decease with your roving eyes." Imperatrix said, hiding the hitch in her voice with a low scoff.

"Seeing…well, _hearing_ someone else catch your temper is frankly, a turn-on."

"Do not start, Nyx." The princess took off with him lagging behind.

When they arrived to the lighthouse, Lunafreya leaned over the railing to wave at the two, receiving cold glowers from them.

The princess pointed her sword at the girl.

"We will be having a discussion after this!" She promised the oracle.

Lunafreya ducked back inside, returning to channeling her magic into the crystal.

Imperatrix whirled on the other soldiers gaping at her. "Get into position! A bussemand is en route."

"Yes, Your Highness!" They shouted in unison, scrambling into a defensive line around the lighthouse.

"This take-charge thing on others is really doing something for me, Impera." Nyx brandished his daggers in place of the bow.

"Oh? Are we so close?" She pointed the blade at him. "Who is suffering split personalities now?"

Using her nickname so freely...

"You decking me makes us buddies." The glaive shoved the blade away from his person and whistled. "Crowe and Libertus knocked my lights out when we got into it. Your punch was more of a...love tap."

"A love tap, eh? I will be sure to hit harder."

"Take me out first before we get to the kinky stuff, Impera."

"Don't be vulg-"

A roar cut her off.

"It's here!" Some of the men yelled.

Guns fired without delay.

The Bussemand pulverized the soldiers like it was nothing, sending them flying. The daemon growled in triumph for every injury it caused.

The princess blocked the enemy from hitting a man bleeding out. She quaked in place at the daemon's sheer strength, slowly losing ground.

Nyx saved her from an ambush from an Imp. He then attracted the attention of the Bussemand by lobbing his dagger at it.

The daemon slammed its fist on Imperatrix's sword. The force of the attack broke the blade, leaving her open for it to punch her.

She landed against the lighthouse and briefly blacked out.

With one down, the Bussemand jumped at the glaive.

The glaive couldn't put up the same fight as the princess and the daemon got the upper hand. Still, Nyx didn't give up, utilizing the dagger as best he could.

"Nyx!" Lunafreya shrieked as she caught sight of him getting hit right on his bad leg and falling to the ground.

She turned back to the core and pushed herself harder, feeling the magic burn through her.

"By the Six's grace, I implore you to shine!"

A surge of light burst from her hands and was absorbed into the crystal, causing it to rattle. More of her energy continued to be sucked in, until the dull core came to life in a flood of gold.

The daemons screeched in pain, shrinking from the light as their bodies dissolved into miasma. The Bussemand was the only daemon to remain in existence and it escaped back into the darkness.

"Nyx, are you alright?" Imperatrix had to stop herself from falling on top of him from disorientation as she checked him over.

Her insides had taken one too many hits.

"I'm alive, but I'm far from alright." He clenched at his leg, inhaling unsteadily through the pain.

How had the creature known to aim at his weakness? Daemons were supposed to be dumb.

The princess touched his back in silent support and pressed the button on her earpiece."Nebula, report."

 _"The daemons…are retreating. Do we pursue them?"_

"Yes. Only they can lead us to the missing children. I will be behind you momentarily."

 _"Understood."_

"Can you stand?" Imperatrix asked of the glaive.

"You kidding me? I could run circles around you." He took a deep breath and pushed himself to his foot, hopping in place for a bit and then limping around to test his leg.

"Another time for that." She dryly retorted.

The princess shouted orders for a jeep to be brought for them and a sword to be fetched for her. Two soldiers rushed to obey, while the rest tended to the wounded.

Lunafreya descended from the lighthouse, proud of her accomplishment, but dreading the scolding Imperatrix had promised. Surprisingly, it was Nyx that rounded on her first.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the clinic?!" There was no humor in the glaive's expression.

The oracle felt small when the princess's displeasure was added.

"You just recovered from severe poisoning. You shouldn't be endangering yourself!" Imperatrix touched Lunafreya's forehead, inspecting the temperature.

"I am fine and it is due to me the daemons were pushed back." The girl removed the hand and maintained her resolve. "I heard your plan. Take me with you."

"Take you directly towards a den of daemons? Have you lost your mind, kid?!" Nyx shook the oracle.

"My light is their greatest weakness. Your weapons hardly stood a chance against them." She fought off the exhaustion in her body from the expulsion of a large quantity of magic. "My presence is necessary."

"Are you giving me attitude? I'm trying to protect you, Lunafreya!"

"And I am trying to do my duty as oracle, Nyx."

The jeep pulled up with a honk. The medical officer stationed with Loqi hopped out, saluting Imperatrix and holding out a sheathed saber.

"Your Highness, the brigadier general has asked that you use his weapon in the coming battle. He wishes you luck in your endeavor."

The princess accepted the item, pulling out the blade.

She recognized the gem embedded in the scabbard. The sword was a basic model of the weaponry designed to combat daemons.

The gem gave the blade light properties.

"Give Tummelt my thanks. I will return his blade once the night is over." Imperatrix moved to the passenger side wile Nyx took the driver's seat.

"Imperatrix, you must take me with you." Lunafreya pressed her case to the other companion.

"No, Lunafreya. I can see that you are weakened and in no condition for this."

"You have to take me with you or I'll go on my own. I will not be stopped from doing my duty!"

"How childish, giving me an ultimatum..."

The princess's hand flew out faster than Lunafreya could interpret and she found herself being held in place by the hand enclosed around her mouth. She froze, reminded of the times where Ravus lost his temper with her.

The hit, however, didn't come.

"I am not your brother. But I must stress the importance of our positions." Imperatrix softened a bit at the flicker of fear in the girl. "I am the crown princess and it is by my leave that you possess autonomy on Niflheim territory. You do not threaten me in any form and I am to be obeyed! Do you understand?"

The chancellor had been right. She became far too lax in the presence of the glaive and oracle.

They consistently showed immense disrespect and disobedience to her. They needed to be reminded that she was a princess by birth. She was the one in control.

Her authority wasn't to be questioned, especially in front of her subjects!

"Am I understood, Lunafreya?!" She repeated when the girl didn't move.

The oracle at last nodded, chastened by the eruption of emotion from the placid Imperatrix.

This wasn't Tenebrae and the woman before her wasn't Ravus. Lunafreya could only step so far out of line without consequence.

"You may accompany us _as support_. No engaging any enemies. And If Nyx or I instruct you to run, then you will, with no objections." Imperatrix let go of the girl, opening the backdoor for her. "Agreed?"

Lunafreya swallowed and lowly answered. "Yes..."

She slipped in, with the dogs jumping in before the door could be closed.

"That got intense, Mama." Nyx quipped once the princess was in the front.

"Wayward children have to be reigned in, Papa. Now drive before my temper goes for you next."

"I like that you can play along, Impera." He put the car in drive.

"Two fools insisting on addressing me intimately..." Imperatrix rubbed her forehead, lamenting the nuisances that were Nyx and Ardyn.

The jeep drove off.

The long night had just begun.


	9. Chapter 9 (Ardyn Mature AO3 Content)

Just to let everyone know this story is posted on AO3 as well and it's on there that I'll post the unedited chapters that feature mature material, because our cast are adults and in a realistic setting they behave like adults.

Since I don't want my story to get removed from the site for including explicit material, like a previous work of mine, the ffnet story will remain T-rated and edited.

I will leave forewarnings at the beginning of any chapters that are composed differently on AO3. I'm listed as Saber007 on there as well.

 **Chapter 9 contains mature material which can be found on AO3 (Archive of Our Own).**

Also, here's some translations.

 **Latin**

 **Meus Musa** \- My muse.

 **Mea Caesar** \- My Caesar, a title and essentially calling someone emperor.

 **Mea Culpa** \- Through my fault. Acknowledging your mistake.

 **Mea Maxima Culpa** \- Through my most grievous fault.

 **Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur** \- We choose to love, we do not chose to cease loving. Quote from Pubilius Syrus, a latin writer.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Are you freaking kidding me?! We combed this damned place and these dumb fu-" Tempesta's venom was harshly ended by her mask being struck and Nebula yanking her behind a tombstone, out of sight from the retreating Bussemands.

"This is unexpected…I've never seen daemons behave with this level of intelligence." He watched the creatures descend underground by hitting a secret switch on a large tombstone.

True, the retainers had scoped the graveyard, but they didn't consider if there were traps hidden among the area.

Why would there be when Saxham was abandoned until the Nephilim repopulated the area? Only mortals could devise contraptions such as a hidden tunnel.

Or were their assumptions about daemons incorrect?

The world viewed them on the same level as the regular wildlife that inhabited Eos, with daemons being of a more magical and dangerous nature.

Nebula wondered if he should give more credence to their father's obsessive research.

"Then we must proceed with caution. Tempesta and I take point. Nebula in the rear. The rest in the middle." Imperatrix leaned out of her hiding place.

A soft snarl escaped out of her nose.

"Something wrong, Princess?" Nyx asked, lopsided smirk opposing his flippant tone.

His breath tickled Imperatrix's ear as he hovered inches from her back.

If she turned, the princess was sure their faces might touch.

"Must you lean so close?" She kept her breathing even, hiding how tense she actually was from the breach of personal space.

"How else am I supposed to see? I don't have special lenses like you." The glaive shortened the distance, chest pressing against her back and hand nearing hers on the tombstone.

"Get your balls off the princess!" Tempesta threw a rock at the glaive.

"Goddammit!" Nyx fell onto his butt, rubbing at his most-assuredly bruised arm.

Impera leveled a hand against his chest to halt him from jumping at the girl and frowned reprovingly at the younger Besithia.

Tempesta shrugged unrepentant and Nebula struck her again on the helmet.

"Be quiet before you give away our position." He scolded, switching out his sniper rifle for handguns and pointed one at his sister's head when she tried to retaliate.

She growled, hunching back like a cat ready to pounce.

"Are the children underground?" Lunafreya spoke up, feeling out of place around the battle-hardened adults and dreary graveyard.

Her skin tingled at the uncomfortableness of it all. She steeled herself, drawing courage from her faithful dog's gentle nudges.

She had demanded to come and would not be ruled by fear.

"That would make the most sense, since we couldn't find any trace of them within the radius of the town." Nebula finished loading the guns, switching his attention to the princess after the last of the daemons descended and the tomb closed. "Are these two coming with us?"

It went unsaid that Nyx and Lunafreya were the target of his scrutiny and weren't appreciated by the slow roll of his neck.

Remove the mask and Imperatrix could promise the man was analyzing his targets with glacial blue eyes, minute frown, and angled eyebrows.

His appraisals could petrify anyone and make them question their self-worth.

"We don't need them. We're professionals fighters, not babysitters." Tempesta added when the princess didn't immediately respond.

Imperatrix, Nebula, and Tempesta were a trio of supremacy.

The Thundercat, The Ace, and The Unbreakable Sword. Three major bosses didn't need a useless oracle and a crippled renegade dragging down their reputation.

Tempesta wouldn't allow the interlopers them to ruin her fun!

"They are support. As I said, the three of us will be doing the major fighting." Imperatrix answered and then softly sighed for the displeasure her next request was going to cause. "Nebula, give Nyx one of your guns."

The gunman slowly directed his mask from princess to glaive. Nyx forced himself to cockily stare right into the empty visor, concealing his wired nerves at the opulent indignation.

Clearly, the princess's retainer wasn't big on sharing his toys.

"Nebula, for me? He cannot face high-level daemons without the appropriate equipment."

"Then why is he coming? The oracle is one thing…she has magic. The glaive is a liability. Not worth preservation." He contended, eliciting cackles from his sister.

Tempesta bumped shoulders with him. "Oh, let him come, let the daemons eat him alive. Saves us the trouble."

"Hmm…" Nebula lost some of the intensity in his posture, twirling the gun. "That's…a good point. I can retrieve the gun later…"

"Are you kidding me? That's what won you over?!" Nyx spat, shaking his head at how much he was really starting to reassess his initial thoughts on the princess being an uptight pain. "You two are homicidal."

Imperatrix was freaking angelic next to them!

"We get labeled that so often, don't we Tempy?"

"Yup!" She knocked on her brother's shoulders. "This guys takes the cake though. Wanna hear his favorite torture method?"

"It changes every other month, gotta keep up with the times, you see?" The gunman jokingly swung his gun barrel from target to target.

"Stop." Imperatrix commanded at Nyx and Lunafreya blanching.

"The verdict, Your Highness?" Nebula ended his game of pointing the weapon at the tag-alongs and instead cleaned at it with his glove.

"Nyx will come as protection for Lunafreya. They will search for the children while we engage the daemons, drawing their attention."

"Darn, he gets offs! Was hoping the savage shit would die." Tempesta deflated and Nyx threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Enough with the insults, from this moment on we are engaged in an operation." The princess directed solemnity at both her retainers.

They nodded.

Nebula reluctantly motioned the glaive over for an crash-course on how to use the magitek gear. He also threatened to break a finger for every nick or dent found on his gun and it was to be returned the moment they returned to town.

"I thought I was going to assist with the daemons?" Lunafreya objected to the princess.

"You thought wrong. The three of us are more than capable of defeating Bussemands with our weapons." She laid a hand atop the saber loaned to her.

While different in style to Borealis, Loqi's saber would greatly increase Imperatrix's combat abilities. The difference between a mediocre store-bought sword and an imperial crafted weapon was immense.

The princess was mortified that her opponent shattered her blade with its mere fists. It bode ill for her moniker.

She would redeem herself in the upcoming battle.

In spirit, body, and material, Imperatrix was unbreakable and she would prove it!

"I can defeat the daemons!" Lunafreya insisted, demonstrating by creating light magic in her hand.

The masked retainers tilted their heads at the display of magic, but then laughed at the girl's waver that proceeded the light flickering out.

"I-I am fine…" She huffed at the ridicule, maintaining an air of strength in spite of the abundant weariness claiming her.

Powering the core took much out of her…

"You will not engage any daemons! Nyx will do that in your stead." Imperatrix raised her hand to end further protests from the oracle. "Let me pose something else to you."

Lunafreya closed her mouth to pay attention, not wanting to strike the princess's anger again.

"The children are the true goal, the daemons an obstruction. What if those innocent souls are plagued by Starscourge, a malady curable only by your hand?" Imperatrix stood, offering a hand to the fallen princess. "Will you preform your duty, Lady Lunafreya?"

The girl stared at the hand, understanding the logic, but still frustration addled her. "I will…do as you say…"

Lunafreya wanted to do more, wanted to be more useful!

The group approached the large tombstone baring the name Oric. The imperials took notice of the name with misgivings.

The flip was hit before a discussion could happen and the path to the underground revealed.

A dungeon of tunnels confounded the group with its twist and turns. Imps materialized to attack them and were defeated promptly with the retainers and princess working in tandem, rendering Nyx inactive for most of the exploration.

Lunafreya's magic lent natural light, an actual beacon for the group and making it easier to see in the pitch black caves.

They finally came to a halt at a crossroads of individual tunnels.

"There are too many to cover even if we all split up." Nebula stated with a groan, leaning on his rifle and looking to the princess for guidance. "Hard to believe these daemons dug all these tunnels…"

Imperatrix paced for a moment.

"Guess they got too into _digging their own graves_." Tempesta joked with a snap. "Eh, eh?"

"Fail." Her brother gave a thumbs down.

"Why am I not surprised death jokes are your thing?" Nyx shook his head. "What next? One of you likes collecting the bones of your enemies? Probably this _psycho_."

He jabbed his finger at the gunman.

"I don't have that kind of time. Usually, after I kill someone, I let the crows take care of the rest." Nebula's garbled scoff was odd to the ears from the voice modulator. "Do I look a doctor who knows how to remove bones?"

"I don't know what you look like cause, you know, you're wearing a _freaking_ _mask!_ "

"Someone's spicy. Are our masks making you uncomfortable, Shit head?" Tempesta needled the glaive.

Imperatrix snapped her fingers and the retainers stood at attention. Nyx jerked back from the unexpected discontinuation.

The princess regarded the two dogs at Lunafreya's feet. "Can they track a scent even if it's faint?"

"They can track anything. Umbra and Pryna are no ordinary canines." Lunafreya gave in to a little boasting.

"Then here, use this to find the children." Imperatrix handed a torn piece of cloth to the oracle.

"Who's is that? Did you plan this from get go?" Tempesta poked her head near the item, picking at the old fabric. "Pfft, we're being put on the spot, Neb. Upstaged by daemons and...mutts."

Umbra and Pryna growled at her and she returned the animosity.

The younger Besithia was more of a cat person anyway.

"As long as the mission gets complete, who cares who gets all the brownie points?" Nebula yanked her back from hissing at the dogs.

"That cloth belongs to the mayor's grandson. Find the children and evacuate them." Imperatrix ordered the oracle, then addressed Nyx. "No heroics! Do not return to this cave."

"Scout's honor, Princess." He promised jokingly.

A gun pressed to the back of his head and the smile got wiped off for annoyance.

"It's 'understood, Your Highness' or 'yes, Your Highness'. Show respect to her or it'll be another dart, this time in a more sensitive area." Nebula threatened.

"Geez! Imperatrix was a tough nut to crack, but this is ridiculous."

"You're asking for punishment."

"Uh, not from _you_." Nyx leered at the princess, getting clubbed in the arm from Tempesta and hit in the head by Nebula. "Why so serious, you guys?"

He groaned from the pain.

"We are wasting precious time!" Imperatrix clicked her tongue and the retainers snapped to attention once more, awaiting orders like good little soldiers.

The younger Besithia's hand flew up, nearly whopping the elder in the face. "Question!"

A small, unintentional giggle escaped the princess's lips before the somberness returned. "Yes, Darling Tempesta?"

"How are we gonna find the daemons? Neb said there's no time to search every pathway."

"Why Nebula will-"

Umbra's loud barking overpowered Imperatrix's response.

The dog circled around one of the middle paths. The princess tilted her head at the gunman, silently asking for confirmation.

He faced the tunnel and tapped the side of his helmet. "That is the direction I'm getting the most daemon activity from."

"Extraordinary dogs indeed…" Imperatrix smiled at Umbra.

"He should go with you. We both shall need guides in this labyrinth." Lunafreya suggested.

"Very well. I will return him to you in good health."

The large group split into two teams.

Lunafreya, Nyx, and Pryna went through a pathway and with the oracle gone, the cave became much colder and darker, thick with miasma.

The remaining members had to fully rely on their gear for visibility. The three humans couldn't fathom how Umbra guided them closer to the daemon's hiding spot when it was pitch black.

A couple of times Tempesta tripped over the dog from it blending in too much with the shadows. He handled the fumbles with disgruntled growls, but didn't bite at the girl, like Pryna looked ready to do before from the slightest provocation.

"Hey, how come you're able to track daemons with your visor?" The fist fighter kicked at her brother, who was inspecting a piece of treasure Umbra sniffed out in the circular room.

He groaned from the consistent, painful nudges to his back. "Your visor can do the same thing, Pest."

"What?! No way!" She hit the side buttons on her mask, flipping through the settings and awing at the different features. "So cool!"

"Damn idiot! She always forgets the important stuff."

"That is why she has you, Darling Nebula." Imperatrix flipped the accessory around in her fingers, handing it back to the gunman after judging it to be a simple charm to lessen attribute damage.

More protection for him.

"The _burden_ of siblings…"

"The _joy_ of siblings."

"Ehhh…only you could say that and truly mean it, Impera."

"What're you two grumbling about? You got your treasure, lets go already!" Tempesta stomped her foot impatiently. "My skin's tingling in anticipation from how close we are to the boss room!"

"This is not a video game." The princess said automatically to the Besithia heirs to prevent them from diving into a full-blown debate about all the games they'd played and which one most fit the current situation.

Like the intricacies of magitek, video games went over her head.

"Could've fooled me." Sensing that Imperatrix was on edge, the girl let the stimulating conversation die out.

The three imperials were back on the move, stopping only when Imps descended on them.

Bussemands appeared just as the readings on Nebula's visor went off, materializing in a room filled with bones and carcasses.

"Heh, a pre-battle before the boss." Tempesta cracked her knuckles, electricity jumping between the digits.

"Come on…Bussemands are tough enough. I'm too tired for worse…" Nebula groused in the middle of spinning his revolvers. His visor was in fact reading something stronger beyond the room. "Can I just bury whatever's next?"

His gun lazily pointed at the ceiling of the tunnel behind the daemons.

"You would bury us too! There is no telling how sturdy these tunnels are." Imperatrix drew the saber. "We will defeat those in front of us and those ahead us. Understood?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" The retainers boomed and took the opening blows.

Tempesta met one of the four Bussemands head on, exchanging powerful, condensed blows that lit up the cave. She restrained the lighting to her fists in an effort to not hurt her comrades.

They were matched in strength since the girl couldn't go all-out in the confined space. Her speed made up for that disadvantage, raining two blows for the daemon's every one.

Imperatrix alternated between two foes, sword slicing easily along the daemon's skin. The gem was doing its job and granting light properties to every strike.

Loqi's blade proved useful for offense and defense, the Bussemands were pained from striking it and being struck by it. The princess wouldn't have to worry about another broken blade.

Nebula played nimble, avoiding close combat with his target and shooting when the slow daemon missed him. Each shot slowed the creature down further as miasma exuded from its wounds.

As his enemyteetered in place, Nebula switched to a heavier-powered weapon and finished off the daemon, becoming the first winner.

"I win this round." He gloated to the females, crouching to the ground for a breather and watching the other battles.

"Nebula, you shit-headed, lazy pissant, bastard! You're supposed to help, not watch!" Tempesta's fist sent her enemy into the ground with a sickening crunch and the creature dissolved into mist.

"Eh, you ladies don't need me. Female empowerment and all that."

"Don't try that fake pro-feminist shit with me!" She advanced on her brother, kicking him onto his back and jabbing her finger repeatedly into his visor. "You're always on my ass about doing my duty as a retainer and I don't see you doing yours!"

"I guess neither of us are doing our jobs right now."

"Huh?" Tempesta ceased trying to give Nebula a bashed skull.

He pointed behind her.

"Ah, shit! Impera!" The fist fighter whipped around, sprinting for the princess still combating two opponents.

"Your assistance is too late!" Imperatrix said with clenched teeth for her retainer's shenanigans.

An expert swing of her sword ended the Bussemands rushing her and she flicked the blade clean of blackened blood before returning the saber to its sheath.

Tempesta skidded to a stop in front of the princess, crossing her arms like a child denied.

"You're so rusty! Losing to Nebula like that." She taunted.

"A loss I will remedy." Imperatrix twitched.

The three often played a game to see who could finish their opponent first when it was small jobs and competed to see who got the most kills when combating a large force.

The victories tended to fall to Nebula or Imperatrix.

As strong as Tempesta was, her foolishness or zeal could get in the way. She often covered up her losses with petty taunts towards the winners.

The Thundercat was an extreme sore loser.

"Oh, yeah? Lets see who takes out the boss and claims the prize." The fist fighter hopped in place, pumping herself up for the next and final battle.

"Tempesta, this is not a game."

"How is this not a game? This is a secret dungeon with stuff in it. There's a big bad. There's even hostages!" She threw out her arms. "My life is a video game. Can we go level up now?!"

Imperatrix flickered her hand in defeated agreement, garnering a whoop as Tempesta bounded off with Umbra on her heels.

"Whatever's down there is off the charts. Are three of us enough?" Nebula reloaded his guns while keeping pace with the princess.

"Three has been enough for many battles. When have the odds not been stacked against us?"

"Can't a guy get a break? I'm too old for all this..."

"You are older in spirit than you are in body, Nebula." Imperatrix slowed her gait at the entrance of the next room. "The night is almost over, my friend."

"Uhhh, I'm creeped out by the daemon in there. It's just sitting there, didn't do anything when I shouted at it." Tempesta stood up from her crouch.

"What daemon sits when it has prey in front of it? And prey that's stupid enough to face it with no back-up?" Nebula took the first cautious steps into the room, scanning for the strange creature and cursed when he caught sight of it sitting on the ground.

"Whatever it is, we will handle it." The princess repeated with assurance.

She froze after laying eyes on the daemon, involuntarily squealing.

"See! Even Impera is freaked out."

"That wasn't out of fear, Tempy."

"Wha?"

As if in a trance, Imperatrix approacehed the lone daemon. "A tonberry?!"

"Wait for it…" Nebula sighed.

"It's so cute!" She cooed at the green amphibian in a cloak with beady yellow eyes and a lantern.

The creature lifted its lantern to illuminate the cave. The one lantern caused a ripple effect, sparking numerous others to life.

The display might have been beautiful were it not for the skulls and bones used as decorations and imbedded inside the walls.

"Are you kidding me?! That thing is creepy as shit and this room is creepy. Screw that savage for jinxing us!" Tempesta shivered uncontrollably. "Nothing about this is cute!"

"Who are you telling? Every Aldercapt has their eccentricity. Our liege's is her fascination with gothic horrors." Nebula tsked. "How warped her taste are to think some slasher monster is cute."

Imperatrix was deaf to the disgusted whispering of her retainers, more focused on the little creature.

She'd always wanted a tonberry as a pet after hearing the story of a man rescuing an injured tonberry and obtaining its lifelong companionship in gratitude. No one knew if the tale was real or not, but that never dissuaded the princess.

Moogle or tonberry, she would have one in this lifetime!

"No, Shitty Princess!"

Imperatrix was knocked to the ground not a moment too soon as a blade cut past her face.

It felt as if the air itself was sucked out of the vicinity.

A heavy weight of numbness settled over the females as they avoided a lunge meant to instantly kill. Instant death was a skill of tonberrys...

"Get up, it's on the move!" Nebula shot at the enemy to cover the stunned females.

The tonberry deflected the beams with its cleaver, mocking the retainer with its slowness and inactivity. Nebula grew angrier by the second as all of his shot were blocked by a measly kitchen knife and the target made no counterattacks.

In a fit, he traded the revolvers for automatics and let them rain bullets on the daemon.

"This is a cruel joke…" The elder Besithia muttered, feeling highly insulted.

Dozens of bullets littered the ground and the faux grim reaper tilted its head, as if to challenge Nebula to try again.

"This is insane. How did that midget dodge all of Neb's shots? He doesn't miss!" Tempesta angrily rejected the scene, hitting the ground with foot and creating a miniature crater. "I don't care how cute Impera thinks it is, the tonberry dies!"

She rushed the daemon.

Her brother recognized the deadly shift in stance from the tonberry too late.

"Tempesta!" He cried out, firing just as the once simple knife exploded with violet energy, elongating into a blade of death.

Nebula's quick reflexes saved his sister as the beam knocked the blade off its original course. The gauntlet covering her arm was destroyed instead of her arm getting completely sliced off.

She wailed at the blood seeping out of her mutilated arm and into the ground.

"To injure my friend is to injure me! You and I are enemies now!" Imperatrix yelled, brandishing the sword and engaging the tonberry while Tempesta hopped back from the fight. "We could've been companions!"

The violet blade met the golden blade in a cascade of sparks.

The small creature had no problem matching the princess in expertise. The woman laughed, feeling a rush of exhilaration as she fought to keep the tonberry from cleaving head from body.

"Oh, he is a wonderful swordsman. Why? Why couldn't we be life companions?!"

"Impera, stop cooing over that daemon! It's trying to kill you!" Nebula snapped, harshly fastening the wrap around his sister's arm while the high potion did its job.

"Not so tight, Neb!" She cried out.

"I cannot stop fawning, he is sublime! Such mastery of swordplay, such soul-gleaming eyes, and such strength in a small body!" Imperatrix spilled out in gasps, in a state of elation from facing a worthy opponent and fury for its desecration of her friend.

The fact that she was losing ground was also adding to her indignation.

A lesser person would blame their tools.

Loqi's sword could never hold a candle to hers, but she knew true victory was won by the skill of the wielder, not the blade.

"I am greatly saddened I must put down this creature. My dream of emulating Kurasame is at end…"

"This is one of those rare moments where I feel like breaking my oath to smack some sense into her." Nebula groaned, juggling his gun. "Should I…kill it for her?"

"Obviously that thing doesn't like us. It made a show of putting us down." Tempesta rubbed at her arm, feeling the itchiness of stitching skin.

The injury didn't bother her as much as the broken gauntlet did.

She was in for a mouthful from their younger brother about ruining his inventions. Imperatrix was sure to die a little too from the cost of completely replacing the armor.

"I don't like being shown up by an ignorant daemon." Nebula reached into his coat, withdrawing a cigarette and pressing a button on the helmet to open the mouth piece.

"Is this really a time for smoking? The Shitty Princess is fighting for her life."

"Ehh, she's having the time of her life. I need this…" He waved dismissively, lighting the bud and sticking it in his mouth.

"Well, if you're gonna smoke, I'm gonna drink." Tempesta pulled a canteen out of her boot, falling to the ground in a criss-cross position. "I need this just as bad."

"Let her handle this." Nebula took a place next to his sister.

"Yeah…"

The retainers enjoyed their leisure at the expense of their princess.

Imperatrix huffed as she readjusted the grip on her sword. The tonberry circled her, waving its lantern and creating a strange melody with each clink.

"You are formidable, Sir." She swiped some hair out her face and retracted the visor.

With all the lanterns aglow, she didn't need it.

The tonberry tilted its head in acknowledgment and then lunged, beginning another dance of blades.

"I cannot overcome him, only keep pace..." The princess flipped backwards and then deflected the next swing. "Prolong this and I will lose."

The stalemate went on until a dagger flew past Imperatrix's ear and hit the midair tonberry, becoming lodged in its forehead.

The two opponents jumped back, fixating on the point of injury. The tonberry moved its head to and fro, confused by the object penetrating its forehead and expelling miasma.

The princess looked to her retainers for justification and they pointed behind her.

A guilty Nyx and a bold Lunafreya stood at an alternate pathway.

"Hey, funny story…Lunafreya's gotten a lot faster. Your training's getting results, Princess…" The glaive weakly jibbed in the face of Imperatrix's teeth grinding.

"We found the children. They are safe outside and waiting for us." Lunafreya spoke over her retainer, glaring defiantly at the princess. "Curing them while these daemons still lurk about is counterproductive."

"You insolent-" Imperatrix felt the chill death.

She dropped, eluding another death blow.

Rather than just the blade, the entire tonberry became covered in violet energy. The yellow glow of the lanterns turned crimson.

"Hoh, shit! Things just got real!" Tempesta flipped to her feet, readying for battle even though she was down an arm. "The savage pissed him off!"

"Lucians have that effect." Nebula spat out his cigarette, unlatching a gun meant for close combat since he would have to support his sister.

"Stop bagging on me!" Nyx shouted and joined the fray with his borrowed gun.

As the others engaged the raving daemon, Lunafreya retreated to the back, gathering up her magic. Her hands shook and her body cried in agony, but the oracle focused on the warmth inside, attempting to channel it in an offensive manner.

The gift bestowed upon her family by the gods wasn't meant for combat, that was the point of the trident, but the royal arm was out of her grasp.

Lunafreya would have to carve out a new path for the lineage of oracles.

The ways of her holy commitment should have been passed down from mother to daughter as it had been for centuries, but death ruined carefully laid plans. All Lunafreya knew, she learned on her own through old texts and diaries of her predecessors.

It was time to put those long hours of study to use!

"I am no longer a prisoner. Locked doors will seal my fate no longer!" Lunafreya cried as the magic rushed out of her in a wave.

The others let out varying exclamations as the magic hit them and then relaxed when it did nothing.

The one to take the full brunt of the outburst was the tonberry. It wriggled in agony, returning to its original state and collapsed to the ground.

The lanterns went from red to yellow, gradually dimming down.

"Is it dead?" Tempesta ventured closer, cradling her arm to her stomach.

"It would disappear if that was the case." Nebula pushed her back from danger, stalking up the creature and aiming his gun at it.

"Nebula, wait!" Imperatrix laid her hand on his arm.

"Princess, we don't need a redo of your fetish."

"That is not what this is." She retorted with a minor blush. "He is already fading. No need to add more pain to his passing."

He lowered his arm after seeing the tonberry begin to disappear.

"Thank you." She rubbed his arm in appreciation and then kneeled beside the daemon. "I cannot put my finger on it, but there was something different about you, Sir Tonberry. You only fought when engaged, very unlike other daemons that do not discriminate between attacker and bystander."

The daemon stared at her, beady eyes betraying nothing.

"Your kind is also known to be solitary, yet Bussemands and Imps appeared to defer to you. They were most stalwart in defense of your room."

"Why is she talking to it? Daemons can't talk." Nyx whispered to the masked retainers.

"Don't even get us started." Nebula shut him down.

"I do not understand this unusual behavior from a pack of daemons…" Imperatrix paused at the tonberry reaching into its cloak and holding out its hand to her. "You want me to have this?"

She opened her hand to receive a frigid piece of metal.

"A dog-tag?" She gasped at the name written on it.

"What? What?!" Tempesta jumped onto her back and snatched up the tags to read aloud. "Oric?"

"You must be blind, that can't say Oric." Nebula took the tags. "Or…not…"

"Hold up, hold up. Wasn't Oric the name on the tombstone?" Nyx scratched at his beard. "Why does this daemon have his stuff?"

"Dude, that's not why we're freaking out!" Tempesta hopped away from the princess and tonberry. "It's like those zombie movies, its come back to haunt us!"

"What are you people going on about?"

"Oric was the last hunter to live in Saxham after being told to abandon it. No one knew what happened to him and his family…" Imperatrix answered, vaguely alluding to a deeper truth.

The tonberry gave a final tilt of its head before fading into vapor.

The daemon was most likely Oric after succumbing to Starscourge...

The general understanding of the disease was that it eventually killed the host. This assumption was what kept people fearful of the diseased, shunning them and no longer viewing the person with the purple and black markings as human.

In a sense, Starscourge did kill the host.

At the end of the disease was the death of the human and the birth of a daemon. If the populace knew it would cause widespread panic and lead to more hatred towards the ill victims.

The truth about daemons was classified information, currently known only to the emperor, crown princess, chancellor, and head of research and development.

The chancellor wasn't supposed to be aware of it, but since Ardyn had a hand in technological advancements alongside Verstael Besithia, he knew of it.

Naturally, as children of Verstael, Nebula and Tempesta knew as well.

There was no doubt the oracles of Tenebrae were privy to the origins of daemons. They were the ones healing the affliction since the times of the ancients…

"Lunafreya's out cold." Nyx rotated his arms, mentally preparing himself to carry the girl, despite how tired he was. He'd gotten out of it twice thanks to Imperatrix, now it was his turn to play dad.

"Not surprising, that magic attack was strong enough to defeat a tonberry. She did also power a core." Nebula praised the oracle, but made no move to assist her. "Shocking that the doll isn't dead, like a newbie overdosing on a drug."

"Don't talk about her like that." The glaive growled defensively.

The gunman cocked his head.

"What?"

"Nothing. Pardon my disrespect towards your liege."

Nyx reared back, gobsmacked by the civility.

"I may not like you, but I can respect you for doing your job as a retainer."

"Okayyy…split personalities…" The glaive held out the loaned gun as a peace offering.

"Split personalities?" He took back his gun.

"Never mind…"

Tempesta butted in between the older men, with all the petulance a prissy cat.

"Does this mean Lunar Temple is _the winner_ of the boss round?" She crossed her arms, highly displeased, and then yelped from agitating her wound.

"The round does go to her…" Nebula conceded with a shrug.

This time Nyx was the one confused. "Boss round? What's that about?"

He didn't get an answer as the fist fighter rammed into her brother like a bull and he pushed back to keep her from knocking him over.

"Why is my arm taking so long to heal?! Did you dilute the potion, Bastard Nebula?!"

"Now why would you think that? I may be sadistic and you get on my last nerve, but I'm a practical man. You being an arm down diminishes our efficiency." He shoved her off and then gave up fighting back once she rammed right back into him, letting her persistently punch him till she tired.

The things he put up with in the name sibling indulgence.

The gunman blamed the princess for these stupid predicaments.

"Cause it's something you would do, Asshole! Like the time you switched out my lotion for syrup!"

He laughed. "You kept putting it on, too! Got eaten alive by bugs and ended up with rashes."

"Shithead geezer, freckled-faced ding hole!"

"Your insults get less creative and more crude. An utter disgrace to Her Highness." Nebula jabbed at her helmet. "And need I remind you, we share features. Insulting me is insulting yourself!"

"I hate you!" Tempesta seethed, the reminder of the messed-up genetics making her blood boil.

"The feeling's mutual, Pest."

"Gods above, I thought Lunafreya and Impera were bad! Now these two are freaking fireworks." Nyx mumbled to himself while surveying their group.

Two arguing weirdos, a sulky princess, an unconscious princess, and an average joe.

Talk about a hot mess.

"We have finished our business here, let us return to Saxham." Imperatrix decreed, rising from the ground and taking notice of Lunafreya.

The glaive beat her to the punch. "I got her, Impera. No need to stress yourself. Good'ol Dad is here."

"Good luck, the girl is heavier than she looks."

The princess was exhausted now that the mission was complete. She'd been up since dawn and her nerves were frayed.

As soon as her head hit a pillow, Imperatrix would not rise for week.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Why is your face the first thing I gaze upon?" The princess rubbed at her eyes, blinking blearily at Ardyn, deciphering if he was real by briefly touching his cheek.

The stubble felt rough on her fingers.

Not a phantom then…

He smiled at the woman half-falling off the side of the bed with her nightgown askew. The sheer thing was riding up to her thigh and falling off her shoulders to expose her chest.

Not a sight to take lightly...

"Because I've been the picture of worry for two days."

"Pardon?" She twisted onto her back and groaned at the ray of light blinding her.

Imperatrix felt so sore and sluggish, similar to a morning after binge drinking and moronic decisions…

She vacantly remembered Tempesta and Nebula indulging in their vices of smoking and inebriation after they returned to the hotel, but the princess had been too tired to do more than bathe and fall into bed. They continued their celebration of reunion without her.

Gods persevere her.

A coma sounded exceptional at this moment…

"Ah, ah, ah! You passed out for two days straight, day three cannot be spent in bed." Ardyn sat on the bed, weight making the princess slide into him and he pulled her gown down to conserve her modesty and temper his admiring.

"Two days…I've been asleep for two days?!" Imperatrix registered the words this time and covered her face with her hands. "Where are my retainers?"

"Entertaining themselves in town."

"How did I sleep through their antics?" She lowered her hands, groaning at the messy state of her suite.

In the sitting area, one of the couches were covered in blankets and pillows thrown together to look organized, but failing. The table was loaded with half-assembled guns and bullets scattered chaotically around in an array known only to the owner. An ashtray had a few cigarettes tossed onto it.

Obviously, Nebula claimed the living room.

Beer bottles, decanters of wine, and dirty dishes lead a trail towards the bed. Some of the pillows on the other side were caved in from a head sleeping on them and blonde strands were sprinkled across the fabric.

Tempesta must've curled up to Imperatrix...possibly causing some of the soreness with her strong grip.

Looking past Ardyn, the princess could see his overcoat draped over a chair. The dresser was covered in the files and folders from his car. The papers on top were routes and notes for the royal progress. A cup of tea sat near the edge of the dresser.

Imperatrix seized the beverage and forced down the sickeningly sweet liquid to bring out the alertness of her mind. The princess almost spat the tea out and quickly set the cup down before she dropped it.

"Have all of you been squatting in my suite?!"

The chancellor chuckled at her disgust, rubbing at her back to help with the coughing.

The amount of sugar he put in things was absurd, but necessary for his frayed taste buds...

"Protocol dictates we don't stray too far when you're incapacitated, my dear."

Imperatrix twitched at the gloved leather meeting her flesh and moved opposite to Ardyn's never-ending amusement. "What of Lunafreya and Nyx?"

"The oracle was in a similar state as you after healing the children. She only just rose an hour ago. The tag-along has been getting into mini spats with your retainers."

"Another thing for me to address…" She sighed.

Ardyn shifted on the bed to lean over Imperatrix with one hand keeping him balanced and the other landing on her cheek. The princess tensed, eyeing the contact frostily, but saying nothing.

Her cheek felt warm to the touch from her rising blush.

"Dearest, why so melancholic?" At the lack of resistance, he stroked her skin. "Tell me."

Imperatrix threw off the covers and rushed off the bed, using the chancellor as a crutch to stand when she tilted at the swift change.

"Do not move from this spot!" She ordered.

"As…you wish…" He contemplated her wired movements, bemused and wondering where the princess's mood would take the morning.

Imperatrix cleaned herself up, splashing water on her face to renew her senses, fiercely riding herself of morning breath with toothpaste and mouthwash, scrubbing soap onto the important areas, and combining through tangled locks of her hair.

An examination of her reflection and finding herself to be presentable eased some of the stress.

The dream had come to her again.

A precious dream that wouldn't come to fruition, but craved all the same by her...

"Why do I keep doing this to myself? It is…toxic…" She pulled off the straps of her gown, letting it pool at her feet.

The princess chided herself for what she wanted…had wanted for some time…and denied.

"The wheel spins...he is on top. How long will that be?" Imperatrix slapped her hand on the sink, banishing the last of her doubts and yanking open the bathroom door.

She was a grown woman and would not be frightened of her emotions like a little girl! If she wanted, she took.

"Imperatrix! What're you doing?!" Ardyn instantly reached for his hat, using it to keep his roving eyes off the princess. "Why are you naked, my dear? Feeling overheated?"

His finger gestured to a corner of the room.

"The ac is at your disposal."

"Please stop rambling and _acting_ scandalized. This isn't your first viewing!" Imperatrix kicked some clothing out of the way of her path, resolving to chew out her retainers later for the mess.

A stray chair was moved under the door knob, the lock turned, and the bolt secured.

Multiple obstacles would deter the more rambunctious Besithia. Nebula would have the good sense not to enter at finding the door locked and stop Tempesta from breaking the door down at being denied entry.

"No…it isn't…" The chancellor cautiously lowered his hat to peak at the princess, body heating at the sight of her long backside.

His voice lowered an octave.

"I distinctly recall a certain snow-haired individual threatening that my eyes would be removed if I ever gazed upon their nude figure again."

"Remind me why I made that threat." Imperatrix spun around to lean on the chair, baring no shame at the man drinking in her figure.

This one man plagued her in both lands of awareness and dreams. The games never ceased and he'd been teasing and prodding at her relentlessly.

"I…advocated for a reduction of military personnel around your father…" Ardyn trailed off as the princess began a slow gait towards him.

The room felt small and hot. Her light footsteps sounding louder than they were.

"A heated discussion with council that resulted in Father dismissing his retainers in favor of those wretched machines! Risking his safety in my opinion..." Imperatrix crossed her arms at the memory, causing her breasts to lift, which went noticed by the chancellor and quickly raised his gaze back to eye level. "I cannot tell you how furious I was and still am that he values your perspective over mine!"

"Hmm, you threw a fit. Destroyed a fair share of furniture in my room. Very hard to explain to the staff."

"I broke every token you sent me afterwards."

"Dearest, nostalgia is enjoyable, but is there a point to all this?" Ardyn exhaled, sending a helpless look to the woman standing before him. "I confess to being very _bothered_ by your state of undress…"

"You have done much to infuriate me over our long course of acquaintance. Your recent betrayal an additional injury on top of the last one." Imperatrix swiped the hat and held it over her chest.

"Oh, princess…" He knew better than to reach for her when the tables were turned and she was paying him back for the not-subtle advances he made on her.

"But you are very good at groveling for forgiveness… You make it so difficult to stay angry…" She stepped back at him leaning closer to her.

"I knew you would enjoy those clothes. I picked them myself to best compliment the most _radiant princess_."

"Right there. I can almost forget…"

"Impera…"

The princess set the hat on the chair and faced the chancellor. "In spite of the many wounds you have caused and will continue to cause...I come back to you..."

The frigidness evaporated and became defeated tenderness.

The reoccurring dream of her and Ardyn living happily together in a summer home weighed on Imperatrix.

They passed the time in simple domesticity as man and wife, dancing to every tune, frivolously running throughout the house and grounds in games of tag, playing card games, experimenting in cooking, and lying in each others arms.

All that joy would be destroyed by the setting of the sun and the trespass of darkness. She would fall to the ground with black death consuming her.

The pure fear she felt upon breaking the illusion made little sense. Nor did the erratic, possessive behavior that would arise.

How she lied to Lunafreya...

Loathing was so entwined with love at this point that maybe there was no line between the two when it came to Ardyn. What might be toxic was all-consuming and inescapable to the princess.

Denial, resistance, and lies were for naught.

Imperatrix couldn't keep Ardyn out of her heart. A part of her despised it as weakness…another part lauded it as strength…

Which was correct?

"My Dearest Impera." Ardyn cooed, opening his arms for her to fall into.

"Use the other endearment." She stepped forward.

"Meus Musa." A switch to latin and the princess fell into the waiting embrace.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"In conclusion, thanks to the efforts of Her Highness and her retinue the town of Saxham is out of peril. The frequency of daemon appearances has drastically dropped and construction on the remaining lighthouses are to be finished by the end of the week." Loqi closed his report with a grateful bow to the princess sitting at the high table in the meeting room. "I am humbled by your brilliance, Princess Imperatrix!"

A high table had been set up for the persons of note. Imperatrix sat in the middle with her retainers standing behind her, Ardyn on her right, the mayor next to him, Lunafreya on her left and Nyx behind her.

Tables were set up on the sides for the soldiers. The hotel staff were also present to provide light refreshments for all.

A conference on the success of Saxham.

"All hail the White Princess!"

The soldiers clapped and cheered for the imperial princess. The mayor leaned past the chancellor to add his own thanks for her assistance and rescue of his grandson.

Imperatrix accepted the accolades with a bright smile and stood. Everyone, but Lunafreya hastened out of their seats out of respect.

The oracle rose after a beat.

"I thank you all, but let us not forget the part each of you played in ensuring this moment." The princess met the gaze of all the soldiers.

The men fought against lingering Imps while the princess's group confronted the larger enemy.

Many of them would be getting promotions simply due to the vacancies left by the base attack. Time would tell if they were qualified, but they were on the right track by facing unexpected enemies with their limited field experience. The Norduscaen Garrison was full of green youths, the brigadier general included.

They would flourish nicely.

The princess would need to write a report of assessment for the garrison and pass it on to the commander in charge of Duscae.

Another personnel she had no knowledge of and was a stranger to her.

A month of absence from capital business could be a decade in politics...

"And let us not forget the aid provided by Lady Lunafreya, the Oracle of Tenebrae." Imperatrix laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Her magic was instrumental in restoring the light and healing the children. She is part of our success."

Lunafreya flushed under the praise, beaming at the cheering and bowing her head demurely. The princess let the oracle soak in the joy of adoration and sat back in her seat.

The others followed.

"Continue, Brigadier General Tummelt."

"Yes, Your Highness." Loqi resumed his pace in the middle of the floor, discussing further measures for Saxham's safety and regulations until their reinforcements arrived.

Imperatrix listened with half an ear, crossing her legs and leaning on the armchair.

Two hours of sleep had done little for her aches.

Even though laying in bed for another day sounded brilliant, the princess got her act together and made an appearance after two days of hibernating and hours of illicit frivolities.

Nyx and Lunafreya were none the wiser to her predicament when she greeted them. The freckle siblings however, just knew from observing her what she'd done.

It must've been her affable air in general. The squabbling didn't strike her temper and she even participated in some of the teasing.

What did that say about the princess's previous state of mind that Nebula and Tempesta were suspicious from her acting sociable?

Had Imperatrix become so wired that testiness and indifference became the norm to the Besithia siblings?

The war affected greatly her…

"Princess Imperatrix, may I have a word?" Loqi broke her train of thought.

"Here or in private?"

"Private, if it pleases Your Highness."

"Very well." She rose from her seat, lifting her hand for her retainers to not follow them.

A quick scan of the room found Lunafreya and Nyx speaking together in a corner until some of the soldiers approached them, asking how the oracle fixed the light so easily. The girl had a difficult time expressing how her magic worked and replying to the men's scientific approach on the matter.

Ardyn was going over financial matters with the mayor and as they passed him, the chancellor's smile at them held a secret edge to it and his eyes lingered on her. She broke the trance by turning her head and sighed at her small quiver.

This was why she tried not to indulge. The princess knew she would drown...

"What is on your mind, Tummelt?" Imperatrix initiated the conversation since her rank dictated that she have the first word and Loqi's hesitance would have her standing in the hotel hallway for too long.

"Princess…" He gripped the saber strapped to his waist, still refusing eye contact.

"I did not cause too much damage to your sword, yes?"

As a fellow sword user, Imperatrix would be livid if someone so much as scratched her Borealis…and she would be highly unnerved with someone else using it.

Loqi had to feel some vexation for her usage of the saber.

Nebula's ire for the princess's command was hidden by his mask, but she could still feel the chilled gaze and would until his grudge died out.

One thing the Besithia's had in common was their ability to hold grudges.

"No, no! My sword is as glorious as ever. Doubly so since it was used by the crown princess!" The blonde youth exclaimed, lighting up like an exuberant child. "My elder brothers will weep tears of envy when I tell them!"

Imperatrix smiled, touched by the exaltation.

She softened her tone for the next piece that would crush the starry-eyed soldier. "Is that a tale you wish to share? Ultimately, you would have to explain the events preceding my arrival."

It was unkind to throw failure in his face, but the princess needed to know how he'd react.

"Oh…yes." Loqi sobered, back to averting his eyes. "That's actually why I wished to talk."

"Go on."

This conversation would determine the rest of her assessment.

"I am a third son, not expected to inherit anything. Yet, I still received this post on account of my name. A lot of people were incensed with the decision and I strove to prove them wrong. All of my arrogance has ended in disaster." He growled, clawing at his bandaged face. "My first mission, a failure!"

Prince Noctis and Cor defeated him, destroying his base. All the lives lost in that attack were on him...

The town shouldn't have had to pay for his folly!

If the children hadn't been located and cured by the oracle, Loqi would've crumbled. Seeing the distressed families was difficult, delivering grievous news to them would've been unbearable.

"I am not worthy of my sword or rank." The brigadier general admitted with a heavy heart, removing the saber from his waist and holding it out to the princess with a bowed head. "Since your blade was broken, I humbly offer mine. May it be of service to someone _infinitely more deserving_."

Imperatrix gingerly took ahold of the weapon, thumb tracing over the Tummelt emblem on the scabbard. "Is this truly your wish, Loqi Tummelt?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"You are aware, you will be court-martialed for these incidents?"

"Yes."

"A demotion would be an optimistic outcome, but considering the substantial damages and death toll, a dismissal is very probable." Imperatrix clenched the blade. "You may become the shame of your family, even cast out, as you are a third son."

Loqi rose, defeatedly staring at the ground. "I…am aware."

"You would face all this?"

"I will accept my punishment and all the consequences that come with it."

The princess exhaled at seeing no lie in young man's gaze. She softly squeezed Loqi's uninjured shoulder, giving a sympathetic smile.

She'd witnessed lesser men run from the failures, metaphorically and literally.

"Take heart, Loqi. Failure does not define, it shapes."

Imperatrix would be honest in the report, it was indeed a great disappointment for a brigadier general to lose his base, equipment, and soldiers, putting his greater charge at risk.

However, he went out of his way to correct his misfortunes, even while gravely injured. The youth also showed a level of contrition, speaking volumes for his capacity for growth in character.

The princess would offer the solution of heavy fines for the brigadier general in her report. A portion of those fees would go to the families of the fallen soldiers and a portion to restoring the base.

He would keep his post, but building the base back to glory would be Loqi's penalty.

"Your Highness is too kind. I will not forget your words." The brigadier general vowed.

A call of his name from the medical officer for his checkup ended the private audience and he left with a deep bow.

Imperatrix sagged against the wall once alone, tempted to slide to the floor and rest.

Nebula rounded the corner and the princess was back in gear, banishing thoughts of repose and meeting the gunman halfway.

"Everyone has dispersed. The chancellor wishes to know your next course of action." He reported, whirling on his feet to follow his liege.

"We make for the senator's home. I want this resolved."

Two days passed and the man still hadn't answered any hails on the radio.

Did he have any idea the severity of the situation? Did the man have a care for the people suffering under his governance?!

It was her job to interrogate the senator and deliver justice.

"Will the oracle be coming or shall I arrange for her to stay in Saxham?"

"She comes with us. The troublesome girl needs to stay within my sight." Imperatrix shook her head, reflecting on her perception of Ravus.

The elder Fleuret must possess more patience than she assumed to deal with his reckless sister.

"This will be a learning experience for her. Let the oracle see first-hand how actions are followed by consequences."

"Will the glaive be needed?"

Anyone else might've assumed Nebula's question to be innocent. Imperatrix knew otherwise.

"I will repeat myself, Nyx is not to be harmed. He is Lunafreya's retainer and is to be treated as such."

Tempesta may seem like the dangerous one, but Nebula was the one to do permanent harm. A hit from the thundercat would fade, a hit from the ace would linger.

"Why protect him? He should die for his actions towards you in Insomnia." The gunman disputed. "You know what they would've done you. There is too much bad blood between Caelums and Aldercapts."

"He saved my life." The princess muttered, shoving down the memories of conspiracies.

"Then let the man return to his homeland like the other traitors and be done with him. We don't need two menaces in our company."

"Menaces?"

"Lunafreya is widely known to oppose imperials. She is, and has been, out of favor with the emperor for years. Nyx has been fighting and killing our soldiers for years. He may not have the king's magic anymore, but he's still a killer." Nebula cocked his head. "So yes, _menaces_ that I will kill at the first sign of danger to your person."

"Enough! I hear and understand. The three of us shall have a discussion on this later." The princess terminated further complaints with a raised hand as they entered the lobby where the others awaited. "For now, trust and obey, Nebula."

"Yes, Your Highness." He yielded.

Tempesta popped out of her chair and rudely knocked Nyx out of her path. He cursed while tripping into Lunafreya.

Ardyn laughed at his expense, covertly tossing a piece of candy at the retainer as she passed him. She caught it with glee.

Imperatrix stood in front of the group with trepidation. She would know no peace with all the internal shenanigans, bickering, head butting, and pranks.

Six help her.

Six and every other less worshipped god, help her...

"We're going to a manor for what, tea and biscuits?" Nyx rolled his eyes, body posture screaming disinterest.

Tempesta raised her head and the glaive prepared to retaliate, be it with hands or verbally. She surprised him by cackling.

"Tea and biscuits is a Tenebraen custom. Fruit and wine is usually served for refreshments among imperial nobles." Ardyn fluttered his hand grandly. "I am looking forward to another sampling of Gauis's venue."

"Do not get carried away, Chancellor. You are to play witness with me when I interrogate the senator." Imperatrix reminded him.

"Wait, interrogate? Why's the guy on trial?"

"Is it something to do with Saxham? I heard people talking of his abandonment of the town." Lunafreya's brows scrunched inward and she gazed away from the princess. "If you are going to levy punishment, then I do not need to be present."

She wanted no part in their butchery.

"That is precisely _why_ you must go. Your experience in governing is nonexistent due to Ravus handling all matters of state." Imperatrix gave one of her patient lectures. "If you are to grow, learning _political warfare_ is just as important as _actual warfare_."

Lunafreya blinked, taken back from the practical reasoning. Seeing that she was hooked, the princess scooted closer to the girl and lowered her voice for only the oracle.

"I also want to demonstrate that disobedience has its vices."

The oracle evened out her face, princess-mask equipped and emotions buried. She didn't wish to experience another mistreatment, mild though it was compared to her brother.

"Shall we depart? Best to reach the manor by nightfall." Ardyn chimed in.

"Yes, we shall." Imperatrix agreed.

"Guess you'll be stuck in the car listening to Dandy's funky cds. Can't mess up your pretty new uniform." Tempesta jibed to the princess.

She in turn tapped at the fist fighter's helmet. "Drive safely, will you? It is not a race, Darling."

"Don't be a loser! My motorcycle is too fast for it to be challenged."

" _Our_ _motorcycle_ isn't a toy, it's advanced magitek. It wouldn't kill you to drive smoother." Nebula lodged himself between the princess and his sister.

"The why don't you drive, Geezer?"

"I have other things to do than drive."

"Suuuuure, like making sure your girlfriend doesn't top your scores on the boards."

The gunman became too distracted by a hotel employee to respond and the females didn't notice him falling behind as Tempesta challenged Imperatrix to a race anyway.

"Something the matter, Nebula?" Ardyn asked, taking note of the person as well and knowing that the retainer's eye viewed with suspicion and not interest.

"Possibly…" He left it at that.

Once everyone was outside, they headed for the parking lot and spilt. Tempesta boarded the motorcycle, revving it tauntingly while Nebula slumped into the sidecar, off in his own world.

"Smell ya later, losers!" The girl took off, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.

Imperatrix breathed a long-suffering sigh.

"There, there, Princess. No need to fret." Ardyn soothed her, holding open the passenger door.

She climbed in without another word. Lunafreya and Nyx slid into the back with the dogs crammed between them.

The owner of the car lamented over the damages to his car he'd have to get fixed from the dogs, as he walked around to the driver side.

He hated the Vixen being anything less than perfect.

Oh well, if slight damage to his car was what he had to suffer through for greater rewards then he would...

The princess's renewed serenity in his presence, in place of the terse detachment, was very welcome. The return to amenity was more than enough recompense for all the setbacks this incident had caused.

The second road trip would be shorter, but no less awkward it appeared.

Ardyn, ever the jester, had no problem going on and on like everyone was good friends instead of reluctant enemies-turned-allies.

He conversed with the princess about her encounter with a certain tonberry and her fascination with it. The prompting led to a dispute between Nyx and Imperatrix.

"It's a daemon, that's enough of a reason why it's creepy. Amazingly, I'm on board with your psycho retainer's opinion." Nyx leaned towards the front to goad Imperatrix. "There's literally _nothing_ cute about the green monster."

She twisted around, briefly startling at how close he was.

Their noses brushed before she moved back and snarled. "So the origin is what causes issue? If the tonberry were a regular creature found in wildlife, you would find it appealing?"

Her defense of the creature had gone beyond just her fixation.

Imperatrix and her retainers had debated over the evidence of the dog tags, graveyards, and bones.

The three believed the tonberry had to be Oric's and the other daemons the previous citizens. The bones must've belonged to the people who didn't turn for some reason.

Like their predecessors, the daemons kidnapped the children to add to their ranks. Once they were turned, the rest of the population would've been next.

Saxham would've become a terror at night for any unfortunate traveler.

It was all so tragic...

"What?! That has nothing to do with what I'm saying."

"People go fanatical over chocobos. Are they not beasts, too? And gruesome ones at that."

"Now, now, Princess. When you start insulting those paragons of fun, I must step in." Ardyn rebuked with a tut. "They are man's best friend, adored universally! And they come in all colors and sizes."

"Fortunate for me, I am a woman and will not be sold." She rounded on him with less rancor than she showed Nyx. "The tonberry is superior."

"No, my dear, the chocobo." The chancellor insisted with a tap to her nose.

"The tonberry." She wrinkled her nose.

"Chocobos."

"Tonberries."

"My god, you're the weirdest woman on Eos!" Nyx scooted back from Imperatrix's seat. "Do you like cactuars, too?"

People of Lucis sold the weird plant creature as toys, despite how dangerous of an enemy it was in battle. The stop lights and signs in Insomnia even featured the cactus.

Nyx didn't get the obsession.

"No, that is a western vogue. In the east, Moogles are the parallel commodity." Imperatrix softened, thinking of her plush toys from childhood that she'd stowed away. "And they do appeal to me."

"Okay, I guess you've moved one step away from creepy." The glaive shrugged, not really convinced.

His eyes shifted to the silent blonde passenger.

"Gotta make sure you don't rub off on, Lunafreya."

"Do not insult me, I am an ideal to follow."

"It is not as though I need a role model." The oracle spoke, shocking Nyx, vexing Imperatrix, and amusing Ardyn.

"Damn! If there's one thing in common between you two, it's the sass." The glaive sank into the window as the females scowled at him with enough force to choke.

Ardyn shook in his seat from quiet laughter as Imperatrix slipped into her mother's tongue to convey her exasperation. He was the only one privy to her muttering as the other occupants were perplexed by the unfamiliar sounds.

"That is not Latin, French, or English." Lunafreya pursed her lips, racking her brain for the origin of the princess's words.

"It's not one of the major languages. Try a smaller, less known one." Ardyn offered, giving rise to a new game.

Imperatrix played along, continuing in the mystery language and making the chancellor chuckle from how improper she could be when she wanted.

"Is it one of the Romanic languages?"

"No. A different brach."

"Slavic."

"No, try again."

"Germanic."

"No."

"Celtic?"

"No, my lady. You're going entirely in the wrong direction."

Imperatrix's patronizing giggles tickled at Lunafreya's ego. "Very well. Is it of the Aryan?"

"Ding, ding. She gets it after eliminating every other option." Ardyn applauded sarcastically. "Now, narrow it down."

Lunafreya frowned.

She had general knowledge of the many languages spoken in Niflheim, but not enough to list off the ones outside of the Romanic category.

The oracle colored in mortification at not being able to overcome the chancellor's egging.

"This is giving me a headache." Nyx groaned at the game consisting of all the players speaking in different languages that he didn't understand.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I did not realize I went into French." Lunafreya said after registering the glaive's exclamation. "I should not be surprised the chancellor is well-versed in linguistics."

The man had pulled the oracle into French without her even noticing and switching to reply to the princess in the same mystery tongue.

"But of course! My job takes me all over and it wouldn't do for me to be uneducated." Ardyn smiled unassumingly. "I'm more astonished at your _lack of mastery_ in language. As oracle, you're expected to go on world-wide pilgrimages. Half the job is communicating and you don't seem able."

Lunafreya blinked, stunned by the digging comment she never expected.

What did the chancellor know of an oracle's duty?

He, a nobody that waltzed into the emperor's court with no name and no pedigree, sprouting outrageous ideas! The man had no right to lecture her.

It was the empire's fault that she lacked so severely as an oracle!

"Dear me, I've upset Lady Lunafreya!" Ardyn sagged in his seat, groaning in a comically sad fashion.

"And you wonder why so many complain, Ardyn? Those dagger words of yours have led to many disputes." Imperatrix spoke in English and steered the conversation to lighter subjects, addressing the wounded party. "I was speaking in Farsi, the language of Persia."

Lunafreya tilted her head curiously, but didn't break her momentum of miffed silence.

"How do you live in a place where no on speaks the same language? You'll are way too complicated." Nyx grumbled, brain-fried from the exchange.

He'd really forgotten how exhausting people of nobility could be. His post in the kingsglaive kept him far from them. In the field things were as simple as fight, take a breather, fight some more, then go home.

Maybe he needed to buy some earplugs since a change in career wasn't on the table?

"Do not make it sound as if we are the exception! That title belongs to Lucis, the only kingdom with one recognized language. Accordo and Niflheim are nations brimming with diverse communication." Imperatrix corrected the glaive. "And let us not forget the Lucis standard of recognizing only The Six Astrals and none other. Are Galahdians not considered _apostates_ as the rest of us outside of the black kingdom are?"

"Hey, now-"

"We've arrived!" Ardyn announced over Nyx . "Look at the warm welcome."

The car came to a stop next to the retainer's motorcycle.

A young girl and a few servants were lined up in front of the manor, waiting to receive the princess.

Nebula approached the passenger door, opened it, and held out a hand for the princess. Imperatrix stepped out with his assistance.

"Her Imperial Highness, Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt, Crown Princess of Niflheim, Princess of Gralea, and Commander of the Valeria Victrix, twentieth legion of the Imperial Army." Tempesta loudly proclaimed with malicious glee as the bystanders dropped to their knees in awe at the many titles.

She got a kick out of seeing people's heads swim, trying to decipher the word verbiage drilled into her head by Nebula since he hated yelling with how terrible his lungs were from smoking.

And she didn't even use all the titles, only the ones the princess cared about.

"You may rise." Imperatrix granted once in front of the girl she presumed was of nobility from the expensive gown native to Gralea. "And you are?"

She smiled kindly.

"I am Aquila, daughter of Lord Gauis Ortho, Your Highness." The young dipped her head shyly. "My father welcomes you to his home."

Courtesies exchanged, Aquila led everyone inside, offering up the guest wing for them to relax in as dinner was prepared.

They were all given separate rooms, but the Besithia siblings opted to share the room next to Imperatrix's, for her safety.

The princess however, knew they wanted the room because it was the second-best. Ardyn raised no objection over being denied the chambers when Aquila pointed out the custom of precedence.

The chancellor came after the princess in rank, the second best room was his by right.

Lunafreya showed no outward displeasure at being overlooked as a regular lady, as she was a princess by birth and technically a queen by succession. Imperatrix knew however small, there was a part of the girl bristling at the demotion.

The princess saw it enough in Ravus to know it must run in his sister.

Once the oracle and glaive were settled in adjoining rooms, the princess gathered her retinue in the antechamber of her suite.

"Why was the daughter the one to receive me and why did she seem so prepared?" Imperatrix paced about while the others made themselves comfortable around the table.

Nebula and Tempesta removed their masks, inhaling fresh air.

The elder shook out his long blonde locks, securing them in a low ponytail and mussing the bangs out of his eyes. He took out a cigarette to smoke before replying to the princess.

"As pompous as I remember the man to be, he wouldn't have missed the opportunity to greet royalty." Nebula lit the bud, taking a long inhale and then lounging docilely in his chair upon exhalation of the smoke. "You're right though, the man shouldn't have known you were coming, since he's been out of contact with Saxham."

"What's the big deal? The fat pig probably sent his daughter cause he thought it was just us." Tempesta criss-crossed her legs and slumped forward on her knees, doing nothing about her wild locks jutting out everywhere.

Imperatrix's hands immediately brushed though the mess, disentangling with soft tugs. The girl fussed anyway.

"You must take better care of your hair, Darling." The princess quietly chastised.

"Then his daughter would've instantly sent word to her father of the princess's presence and the man would've rushed to meet us." The gunman pointed out slowly for his sister. "That didn't happen."

"We didn't receive a greeting if you recall. We were made to wait upon arrival." Ardyn added.

"Oh, guess…I get it...now." The fist fighter hissed, shoving down the urge to deck someone for the trouble her hair was causing. "How'd he know then?"

"The million gil question, amateur!" Her brother scoffed, snatching up an ashtray and heading for a window to keep a distance from the chancellor and princess.

The two didn't like the smell of smoke sticking to their clothing.

"Don't be a dick! I can kick your ass in a heartbeat."

"A fact I'm well aware of and could not care less about." He opened the window, dispassionately analyzing the sinking sun as his smoke escaped into the air. "Something is wrong with this..."

A bright light came to life from a pillar, followed by three others. The lights formed a square of protection around the manor.

Daemons wouldn't be able to approach.

The imperial's improvised take on the Great Wall of Lucis.

"How has this manor remained untouched when it is not far from Saxham? If the daemons could outmaneuver the lighthouses there, then why not here?" Imperatrix posed, taking position by another window and opening it. "How has Ortho stayed safe, while children were taken and men killed?!"

The window shook from the force of her grip.

"Are we sure it was daemons that sabotaged the lights?" Nebula flicked his cigarette, letting the ashes fall. "Daemons getting past their greatest weakness and not wrecking havoc on the town in the same token doesn't add up. They've a singular penchant for violence and nothing else...much like Tempy."

"Keep casting stones, Neb. My fist will find your guts!" She barked.

"I find the daemon theory suspect as well, but the mayor had no other explanation." Imperatrix concurred with her retainer. "Who or what could possibly benefit from the town's fall?"

Nebula shrugged, out of ideas. Tempesta was less than helpful with her sheepish frown. The princess angled towards the usually vocal participant of intrigues among nobles.

"You are silent, Chancellor. No thoughts to share?"

Ardyn drummed his fingers on the armchair, seeing past Imperatrix. "I think further speculation is best saved after we speak with Gauis."

She nodded, conscious to his brooding and not wanting to press as it would get her nowhere.

"You may take repose until dinner." The princess decreed.

The retainers grabbed their masks and bowed to her.

"Not you, Tempesta. I know you will wear the mask at dinner, but your hair is atrocious. I will fix it."

The girl flinched.

Nebula laughed at his sister's misfortune, securing his mask back on as he departed.

"You already fixed it!" The fist fighter gestured to her semi-tamed golden spikes.

"Silly girl, that is not fixed." The princess held out her hand. "Come."

She growled, complying to the order and stomping up to Imperatrix.

"I'll leave you ladies to your evening preparations." Ardyn stood, doffing his hat as he bowed in depart.

Imperatrix watched him go, wondering what he wasn't telling her. The man better not already be testing her tolerance.

Ardyn was on the climb of the wheel, nearing the top and the princess didn't wish to see him at the bottom again. Couldn't he just stay in her favor, instead of constantly losing and gaining it like shifting tides of seasons?


	10. Chapter 10 (Ardyn Mature AO3 Content)

**Hey, heads up for another mature chapter. EX material can be found on AO3.**

 **Latin**

 **Acta non verba** \- Deeds, not words.

 **Domus Aurea** \- Golden Palace.

 **Non ducor, duco** \- I am not led, I lead.

 **Ama me fideliter. Fidem meam toto: de corde totaliter, et ex mente tota. Sum presentialiter, absens in remota** \- Love me faithfully. See how I am faithful: with all my heart, and all my soul. I am with you, even when I am far away.

Lyrics from a Latin poem, _Omnia Sol Temperat_ (The Sun Warms Everything) which was then turned into a musical composition by Carl Orff called, _Carmina Burana_. The song is part of the first movement, _Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi_ (Fortune, Empress of the World)

 **Valeas quam optime** \- May you be as well as possible.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Aquila, how old are you?" Imperatrix smiled at the young girl of fair hair, light eyes, and natural prettiness of youth, posted at the other end of the table.

As crown princess, Imperatrix naturally sat at the head of table. Ardyn, as the next highest ranking official sat to her right. Lunafreya, a lady of noble birth at the left. Nebula and then Tempesta were seated besides the chancellor as recognized children of a lord. Nyx sat by the oracle as her guard.

In an official affair, the glaive wouldn't be seated at the table. He was a commoner and even a royal retainer wasn't technically allowed to dine with nobility, unless they were among the aristocracy.

Fortuitous for him, Aquila wasn't that versed in entertaining guests. Nor did she posses the customary egotism that brewed in many peers of the realm.

When the young girl went to seat herself at the side of the head seat, the princess insisted on her sitting in her father's place.

The head chair was the daughter's right in the absence of a male to represent the family. She took the seat with hesitance and awe, jumping every time someone addressed her, like she expected to be dragged out the seat.

"I am fourteen, Your Highness." Aquila answered shyly.

"A flower ready to blossom..." The princess weakened to the slight blush and mousiness of the girl.

A polar opposite to the person she had in mind, but still bringing a warmth of affection to the surface of her heart.

"Your presence reminds me of my Darling Euphie, as you two are near in age."

The princess expected Gauis Ortho to sit opposite her at the other end of the table, as head of his household. However, Aquila informed them of his illness and inability to attend dinner.

Perhaps…it was better to have the daughter in the seat and not the father.

Imperatrix could almost pretend it was her quirky little sister across from her and that…quieted the mounting displeasure she harbored for the senator.

"The third princess? I have heard she is very artistic, dabbling in every subject with proficiency."

"She is. Father indulges every whim that strikes her. The current fancy is acrobatics to the consternation of her family." Imperatrix's smile widened at the thought of a dancing Euphemia.

Ballet appeared to be the one constant that she returned to in hiatus of other pursuits.

"Euphie can be a handful when her nature is so fickle. A true _Pisces_."

Aquila giggled, losing some of her nervousness.

"But we all enjoy her unusual performances."

On weekends, it was either Euphemia or her father dazzling the family with some form of recreation to take minds off the week of work.

How she missed the leisures of home.

"Princess Euphemia sounds very fun."

The chancellor swirled his wine around in the glass before taking a generous sip.

The princess could charm anyone.

His attempts at conversation weren't nearly so lucrative. The young lady shriveled up in the large chair whenever he spoke to her, perturbed by his presence.

Lunafreya had also been giving him cold looks since they sat down, still smarting over his critique.

Why, oh why did females dislike him so?

At least he could watch his favorite princess, lips curving slyly for the glances she stole his way and the mischievous nudges he would in return give her foot under the table.

Simple pleasures.

"What of your brother? Is he a handful?" Imperatrix's knife accidentally scrapped against her plate, emitting a screech.

She pursed her lips at the booted foot moving up her leg.

Ardyn hummed casually, fork spearing meat into neat pieces and mixing it into the pasta.

"He is…he is a typical boy…" Aquila's weak response made her duck, going red from the princess's knowing expression.

She felt so exposed under those blue eyes...

"My brother is often busy with Father...we don't see each other much."

"Where is Augustus? Has he caught Gauis's flu as well?" Ardyn examined the dinning room over the rim of his glass, coughing into it when a foot landed in his lap.

He restrained himself from reaching under the tabletop and caressing the leg of the owner.

"He was a lively little thing."

The chancellor remembered the scowling creature that lurked behind his father like a malicious shadow. A boy of that intensity had to be a nightmare for the skittish daughter.

"Augustus...is in a similar condition as Father..." She poked at her food, not meeting anyone's eye.

"How unfortunate. I'm sure he would've loved to hear all the glory details of the daemon slaying in Saxham." The chancellor shrugged his shoulders, paying no heed to the small squeak emitted by Aquila, imposing on one of the few servants present for more wine. "Boys at that age are hungry for battle."

"Ardyn." Imperatrix's light tone was accompanied by a sharp kick to the man's foot.

Once his glass was refilled, he tipped it at the young lady, making a faux pass of apology. "Do forgive me. Things like death and destruction aren't appropriate topics for dinner."

"They are not appropriate topics for any setting outside of meetings."

"I would disagree, Princess. If speaking in terms of a city's produce and livelihood, the topic would be very common. The mayor and I discussed such a thing at length."

Imperatrix leaned back in her seat, giving the chancellor her attention with all the dryness she could muster. "Your talent for banal topics outclasses mine."

Ardyn chuckled, secretly recommencing the foot games with the princess. "Shall I speak of the weather next? We can't get more vapid than that."

"Only if you wish to be ignored." She shook her head, laughter bubbling in her throat from the juvenile playing the others weren't aware of.

"Do you know what's fascinating?" The chancellor tapped his fingers on the table in a steady beat, smirking at the oracle and then the princess. "Earthquakes."

Imperatrix humored him, allowing the man to lean closer to her and go on about rising reports of predicted seismic activity that no one had any explanations for.

The two were the only ones invested in that topic and the hidden game beneath the table. The others broke into smaller talks now that the polite silence broke.

One thing Ardyn was good at was breaking the ice for more sensible people to carry on the dialogues.

"Why are you two still wearing those masks? Take them off already!" Nyx insisted to the retainers who hadn't touched their food yet.

The siblings had been watching Imperatrix eat and would occasionally switch their focus to the servants who swapped out dishes, high on alert and ready to pounce.

Were they checking if the food was poisoned? Imperatrix did tell him of her experience with it...

Nyx suddenly slowed down his chewing, mindful of how carefree he'd been with the pasta, not once stopping to think it might be tampered with. He stole a glance at Lunafreya, checking that she wasn't turning purple or something.

"What's it to you?" Tempesta stabbed her fork in Nyx's direction, snapping him out of his transfixed stare at the oracle's cutlery skills.

"It's weird! How are you even going to eat?"

"Like this." The fist fighter went through the motion of removing her helmet, only to abruptly stop and hit a button on the mask.

The mouth piece retracted to reveal a strong scowl.

The glaive gave her his most deadpan expression in return for the joke.

"Oh, hoh! You actually thought I was going to take it off for you?" Tempesta cackled meanly. "You're not pretty enough for anything of mine to come off."

He choked for a second, face scrunching disgustedly and shifting towards the princess to see if she heard.

She was still intently focused on the red-headed jerk.

"Lady Lunafreya sure did. She looked ready to burst out of her seat." Nebula followed his sister, revealing only his mouth and leisurely starting to eat.

"I was not staring." The oracle deflected, looking elsewhere than the empty visors that reminded her of MT soldiers.

"You were. Oracles aren't supposed to lie." Tempesta goaded.

"I was-"

"Yeah, you're a brat." Nyx blurted out over the girl's bickering.

With the mouth piece off, Tempesta's voice wasn't scrambled by a voice modulator.

She sounded young and petty. His nightmare in girl form.

"Say that again, you shi-" The fist fighter yelped as her brother harshly kicked her under the table. "Ahh, Neb! Why'd you do that?!"

"Watch your mouth! We're in refined company." The deadly rasp made her flinch and distance her chair from the livid gunman. "You are a reflection of the princess, _act like it_."

"So you're not a punching bag." The glaive grinned, leaning on his palm.

"I can make you into one." The gunman lowly threatened.

Before Nyx could throw out a comeback, the table-cloth under his elbow was yanked and he fell face-first into red pasta.

"Oh no!" Aquila exclaimed, bursting out of her seat and madly gesturing for the servants.

Nyx had to be restrained by Lunafreya. She held onto his arm and attempted to clean the dripping mess before it could completely ruin his uniform.

His old kingsglaive coat just couldn't get a break!

The uniform was already a pale imitation of its former self...

All the fur and attachments that were mementos from Galahd were gone. The pauldrons and livery had been so damaged that Victoria removed them. His sleeves were stitched back with new material, making his coat lose the signature black of Lucis, and instead, a combination of black, silver, and white.

Nyx could hardly call it the wear of kingsglaive anymore...

The thought of losing the last piece of his old life made him snap.

"That won't be necessary, Lady Ortho. I can help Sir Ulric get cleaned up." Nebula offered with a slight bow to the young lady as he stopped the servants from approaching Nyx.

The glaive sneered at the man hovering behind his seat.

"You help me? Like you haven't helped enough!"

"I don't know what you mean." The gunman bent down, muttering for one pair of ears. "Play along, Sir. Or I'll do worse."

Nyx froze, contemplating the words beyond the threat.

"Are you sure, Lord Besithia? One of the servants could easily do that." Aquila fidgeted, torn between insisting or letting the man do as he wished.

The retainers were of Imperatrix's retinue, to deny them was to deny the princess.

Worse…the elder son...

The first son and heir of Verstael Besithia, Nebula Besithia had a reputation of viciousness when executing his duties.

She was afraid to get in his way…

"I'll do it." The gunman made a show of helping Nyx out the chair, but really was strong-arming the glaive. "Please excuse us."

The two exited the dining room.

"Well, that was…exciting." Ardyn quipped.

Aquila stood still, looking lost at the next course of action. Should she shit down and wait for the others to finish eating? Or should she invite them to the parlor?

She wasn't trained for any of this!

"I am quite full. A walk would do me well." Imperatrix set all her utensils into position and removed the napkin in her lap.

"A walk? I'm afraid it's too dangerous to go outside, even with the lighthouses, Highness." The young lady frowned apologetically, rapidly thinking of a solution. "I could give you a tour if you'd like?"

The princess smiled. "Thank you. I would like that."

It would also give Nebula time to follow her instructions.

Aquila looked to the remaining guests, inquiring if they'd join as well. Ardyn, naturally, wouldn't leave a royal all by their lonesome.

Tempesta opted out since she saw enough the first visit and would rather unwind. Lunafreya declined as well, she didn't feel comfortable getting too involved in the going-ons of this trip, not when she knew the princess's ulterior motives.

The oracle would distance herself as much as possible from the brutality of imperial business.

Since the girls didn't want a tour, Imperatrix sent them off with a stern warning to Tempesta to leave the house in prime condition and keep an eye out on Lunafreya.

The swapping of bodyguards got a tiny sigh of irritation out of the blonde and a snicker from the fist fighter as she teased her charge while they walked out.

"Feels like we've sent all the children off to bed." Ardyn sauntered up to the princess, tipping his hat before offering his arm in escort.

Imperatrix looped their arms and softly snorted. "It is as if you two are coins...opposites, yet connected."

The many jokes between her and Nyx came to mind. The glaive always grinned lecherously when referring to her as a pseudo maternal figure for Lunafreya.

"Whatever do you mean, my dear?" The chancellor patted the hand in the crook of his elbow.

"You and Nyx share behavior and thoughts it seems. He too, jests of parental duties with me."

His smile thinned out and he tugged the princess closer. She grabbed onto his bicep with her other hand to prevent a collision into the man.

"Ard-"

Aquila joined them before Imperatrix could address the territorial display and the princess chuckled at the tiny bit of petulance peeking out of the chancellor's barbed smile.

The young lady guided the two throughout the manor, repeatedly peeping at the comfortable air and closeness of the princess and chancellor.

They could pass as a couple out of one of Aquila's novels.

The whispers and ensuing giggles, sharing jokes only they understood, and the proximity, that while appearing polite, discharged unseen passion with subtle habitual movements.

Oh, a novel before her eyes!

It wasn't until they came near the other wing of rooms that Aquila was included in conversation that actually required more than simple replies.

"Your father's room is down this hall, yes?" Imperatrix loosened her arm from Ardyn's and stepped down the hallway. "A quick visit should not be too taxing on his health."

Aquila paled, rushing to cut off the princess, holding out her arms to block the pathway. "You mustn't, Your Highness!"

"It is alright, I will not badger a sick man. I only wish to provide comfort by words."

"I cannot let you enter his room!" She didn't budge at the princess taking a step forward. "What if you catch what ails him?!"

" _Cowardice_? What an awful thought!" Ardyn mumbled conspiratorially and Imperatrix's ear twitched from catching it.

The princess outwardly emanated kindness, but she was meandering towards impatience on the inside. "Darling, you need not worry. A young body is a resilient body."

Did the girl not understand how suspicious she behaved?

How suspicious the entire household appeared? Not a single attendant was nearby to tend to the supposedly sick master of the house or the young master.

At the palace, if she or any of the royal family took ill, physicians would be rushing in and out of their rooms with others pacing the outside of the room.

The whole manor was too quiet and too empty for so serious an event...

"Forgive me, but to allow you to catch ill would bring dire consequences."

"And your brother? Is he so ill as well?"

"Yes, Highness. A visit to either would be detrimental to your person."

She surveyed the young lady and Aquila withered under so powerful of a gaze, breath quickening and arms trembling.

"Princess, you mustn't make a fuss. The child is only looking out for you." Ardyn chortled at the terror Imperatrix could cause if she chose. Sad, she didn't do so more often.

It was hilarious to watch.

"Your health isn't to be toyed with."

The princess relented, stepping back with an understanding smile breaking through to disarm Aquila.

The young lady released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"I apologize if I upset you. That was not my intention, Darling." She wrapped an arm around the girl, leaving the empty hallway and passing Ardyn. "As you can see, I can be a bit overbearing when it comes to the wellbeing of my subjects."

"O-Oh…t-that's not a bad thing, Your Highness. T-There are other lords that don't care as much…"

Th chancellor's smirk widened as he trailed behind the ladies.

Aquila was back to demurely interacting with the princess, blithe at the attention and easy affection that Imperatrix gave out. The prior fright erased from the girl's mind.

The princess had the rare gift of ensnaring people, of making them feel as if they were a singular presence in the world, worthy of all the love and warmth of a rising sun.

A gift inherited from her father and every other predecessor to call themselves a sovereign. The magnetism of a future ruler.

Poor, naive, little, Aquila Ortho. She had no idea of the hole she was digging for herself.

And Gauis. What a fool…

Choosing a weak player for whatever game he believed himself to be master of, was the height of idiotic.

"I was under the impression you two were retiring to bed?" Imperatrix circled around the chair of her retainer, who unrepentantly raised a decanter of wine, as if that was all the explanation she needed to give.

"Got sidetracked." Tempesta pointed at the oracle seated on a bench before a piano. "Got _double sidetracked_."

"I…do not know what came over me, but I had…an urge to play…" Lunafreya's fingers brushed lightly over the keys, playing a fragmented melody. "I need…to complete it…"

Pryna nudged the girl's leg and the oracle snapped out of her daze, fingers hitting the keys with more fortitude.

Imperatrix shared a look with Tempesta, but the masked girl shrugged, pouring some wine into another glass and presenting it to the princess. She accepted it and took the seat next to the fist fighter.

The parlor became filled with a symphony from the piano.

"Lady Lunafreya plays beautifully. It's true then, that the oracle's are blessed with melodic natures?" Aquila sank into a nearby chair, enraptured when singing joined the notes in a wordless tune.

"Not just oracles. The whole of Tenebrae is an orchestra. The Fleurets just happen to be maestros in the discipline." The princess slackened in her seat, resting her cheek on her fists and angling her hips in the opposite direction to cross her legs.

The glass of wine dangled in her unoccupied hand.

Both Ravus and Lunafreya were blessed with angelic voices...

Occasional performances for holidays and celebrations were the other exceptions besides oracle duties, that Ravus allowed his sister out of the manor.

All the people of Tenebrae and travelers from all over loved hearing the Fleurets sing as they had for generations.

Imperatrix and her family had attended a few performances when Queen Sylva still lived. The trio of blondes had astounded the audience with heavenly operas.

After the queen's death the performances dwindled for a time, until Lunafreya took the mantle as oracle and retook the stage. She brought back some of the traditions, but it wasn't the same.

Ravus's participation in the family arts was sparse, but also cherished. Furia warmed to her husband particularly from his singing.

"Accordo or Tenebrae. I'm not sure which should be considered the center of music." Aquila rung her hands together, chewing her lip in thought.

"That's entirely dependent on your taste, young lady." Ardyn draped himself over the top of the chair Imperatrix lounged in. "One is dreadfully dreary with its monopoly on traditional music, and the other, a fusion of so many genres you don't know how to describe the music."

"Chancellor Izunia…" Aquila ducked her head, unsure of how to proceed without offending the high-ranked man.

"Do not mind him. Ardyn is the biggest critic you shall ever meet when it comes to art." The princess stated, tilting her head upward to observe the red-head nonchalantly drinking another full glass of wine.

How was he not the slightest bit inebriated? Imperatrix had seen him drink at least five full glasses!

Tempesta was already tipsy judging by her shaky hold on the decanter and her low giggles at apparently nothing.

"I have every right to be. In the beginning, music was my calling." The glib air cracked, showcasing less mockery and more bitterness to the princess. "I was its _champion_."

"You, as a traveling minstrel? I can see it. Or maybe the life of priesthood, garbed in all black and singing continuously in a chapel." Imperatrix poked fun at Ardyn, when really she was trying to gauge the mystery of his life before the mantle of chancellor fell on his shoulders.

"Me? A priest? Perish the thought!" His dramatics in patting her head like one did a silly child, told her otherwise.

The bitterness hadn't left his countenance.

Lunafreya's playing became more pronounced. Ardyn twitched when the simple, incomplete tune morphed into a chorus and the girl's singing gained words. Pryna's ears perked up noticeably and the dog's watching became an uncanny study.

"I don't understand what she's saying." Aquila looked to the princess for answers.

She sipped the rest of her wine before replying. "It is not the language of mortals."

The princess had heard Ravus sing similarly, but it didn't have the same…vigor that Lunafreya demonstrated.

Magic could be felt in every sound of the girl's song. The brother didn't have access to the light magic as the sister did.

Funny, how women were the staple power in Tenebrae when the rest of the imperial territories were male centered.

The magic flowed only in the female heirs of the Fleuret family.

"Not of mortals?"

"If there is a name for the language, I do not know it." Imperatrix shifted at the absence of a hand on her head and looked up, finding Ardyn to be staring past Lunafreya, amber eyes flashing with too much to understand in a brief view.

The door to the reception room flew open, jolting the females out of their seats.

Tempesta sobered immediately, fist raised to defend the princess. Lunafreya remained in a trance, playing and singing in a tongue known only to those chosen by the gods.

"Oh, it's Neb." The retainer lowered her fists, huffing loudly. "Thanks for the dramatic entrance, jerk! I thought that was Dandy's specialty."

"Now, now, Thundercat. Hurt my feelings and there will be no candy for you." He clicked his tongue in reprimand.

"Ack, c'mon! Don't be like that." She punched his arm jokingly.

The gunman marched inside, dragging a wailing young man and tossing him before the princess. Nyx lagged behind him, absent his kingsglaive coat and looking a little roughed-up in his undershirt and pants.

Aquila gaped at the mistreatment of the servant and whirled on the princess. "W-What is the meaning of this?!"

"Yes. Explain, Nebula." Imperatrix calmly set a hand on the girl's shoulder.

She'd asked him to investigate the manor and servants through the communicator when no one was paying attention to her and the chancellor at dinner.

"This man. Do you recognize him, Chancellor Izunia?" The gunman yanked the man up, clenching his face for Ardyn to regard.

"Hmm, this is…Gauis's valet if I'm not mistaken." He answered slowly, tapping away at his chin as he bent to examine the subject. "But…he's familiar for another reason."

"I spotted a man with similar features at the hotel."

"Dear me! I knew your interest was deeper than the typical person's."

"Ehh, I think you're confusing me for someone else, my lord." Nebula stood, visor screen directed at the chancellor.

His hand snuck onto the servant's shoulder, digging in painfully when he tried to dart away.

"I was merely complementing you, Nebula. No need to get cross." Ardyn fluttered his hand apologetically, but the coy smile stayed in place.

"What does this man have to do with the situation at hand?" Imperatrix brought the talk round to focus.

"He's been in communication with his brother in Saxham, feeding the senator information upon request." Nebula brandished a cellphone. "Gauis Ortho has known what we've been doing the past few days and voluntarily chose to ignore us and do nothing."

Aquila sharply inhaled as eyes turned on her.

The kind embrace slowly become a tight, confining one.

"Ortho knew I was in Saxham and fearing punishment, he ran. Didn't he, Aquila?" Imperatrix's voice and expression had gone blank, her hold almost smothering to the young lady. "That is why you greeted me and the lie of sickness. The reason for your nervousness and apprehension. The reason behind the lack of attendants in this manor."

As the princess had speculated with Loqi and been proven wrong, the senator turned out to be a disgrace that ran from his mistakes.

Aquila hyperventilated at the onslaught of accusations, feeling the room closing in on her and her breath quickened beyond what was safe.

The music came to an abrupt end. The room thickened with tension and silence.

"I…I don't… Princess, please!" The young lady bawled, too overcome to properly speak and collapsed in Imperatrix's hold.

"What is going on?" Lunafreya awoke at the cry, turning towards the commotion.

She went unanswered.

"I don't know why the senator went so far as to put a mole in Saxham, but I can find out, Your Highness." Nebula whipped out a gun, eliciting a whimper from the servant.

The man cried out for the mistress of the house to help him, as he was only following orders.

"Wow! This is plain pathetic." Tempesta groaned from the two sobbing individuals giving her a headache.

A wimpy worker on his hands and knees, pleading for assistance from a tiny speck of a girl that was weeping on the princess's chest.

She definitively needed more alcohol after this feeble turnout.

"What is going on?! Why are you hurting this man?!" Lunafreya demanded answers this time, but again was ignored for more pressing matters.

"Do it far away from us." Imperatrix sighed, rubbing at Aquila's back. "There is no need to traumatize our host."

"Understood." The gunman bowed his head, gripping the back of the servant's clothing and dragging him out just as roughly as he was brought in. He called back to Nyx derisively. "Would you like to help me out again?"

"Dude, I helped you knock out the others. I've had my fill for the night." The glaive massaged his neck, working out the area from when he almost got strangled by one of the workers. "Shouldn't have even helped after you ruined my uniform!"

Nebula rolled his neck, modulator garbling out his sigh. "I'll compensate you for the trouble."

He'd heard enough of the whining from the man. Since the princess ordered him not to harm the glaive, other methods of concession would have to be utilized.

"Why will no one tell me what's going on?!" Lunafreya came close to screaming in pure frustration as Nebula left with the man.

The blackout left her feeling extremely unhinged.

She'd gotten a vision of the meteor, of land, brown and green. Duscae in all its glory.

A melody then took ahold of her and she drowned in the epiphany. The oracle couldn't even remember leaving the dining room.

Sometimes Lunafreya felt her abilities were a theft of her life...

"W-What're you going to do to m-me?" Aquila wiped her face with a handkerchief and dropped into a chair. "Please don't give me to Lord Besithia! He scares me!"

"What happens to you is in your hands." The princess squatted, resting her hands on top of the girl's hands that were clenched at the knees.

"H-How?" The young lady trembled, dreading what might be asked of her.

She momentarily did a sweep of the room.

The chancellor lounged in a chair, idly consuming wine with the other retainer. Between the two's competition, they would finish the expensive decanter.

The oracle had fallen onto the bench, cradling her head as if she had a headache and wasn't a part of the events transpiring. Her bodyguard hovered near, scratching his head over what troubled Lunafreya and what he could do to help.

Aquila didn't even want to consider what was being done to her father's valet...

She wasn't ready for any of this!

Why couldn't she go back to reading her novels and being a fly on the wall?!

"I need you to tell me what happened with your father." Imperatrix softened her tone. "I need to understand, Aquila."

"I-I…I don't-"

"May we dispense with the lies already, young lady? You've been under suspicion since we arrived." Ardyn interrupted the watery mumbling with a flagrant eye roll. "A loose tongue could be your saving grace."

She shut her mouth from the genial man's switch to abundant testiness. It was the same attitude she often received from her father, the disdain for incompetence. The only thing lacking from the chancellor's look was the revulsion for being a girl in a world of men.

"Darling Aquila, right here." Imperatrix touched the girl's cheek, bringing her gaze back onto the princess. "Speak to me, only me, child."

"Father did not tell me much…" The young lady began tumultuously, confiding in the one person to not treat her like worthless trash. "He told me to entertain the princess while he went away on business. Augustus went with him. I don't know anything else."

"When did he leave?"

"Yesterday."

The princess ground her teeth. Her laziness granted a criminal to escape!

"And you have no idea where they traveled to?"

"No, Your Highness. I swear on The Six Astrals!"

Imperatrix swiped away the last tear to fall. "Thank you for your candor."

She rose and hit a switch on her headpiece, tuning in to the channel for the retainers.

 _"Princess?"_ Nebula came through on the comm.

Tempesta popped up in her seat, nearly spilling her wine.

"Ohh, I can hear the bastard crying!" She burst out in drunken giggles. "I should've gone with Neb…but I would've puked from watching him work…"

"And you would've been no help to him, falling all over the place and giggling like a maniac." Ardyn stole her glass and replaced it with a couple pieces of candy when she got ready to whine. "Then it would've been you in the chair and not the valet."

Tempesta tumbled out of the chair.

"Haha, I'm perfectly fine. Never felt better!" She rolled around, ripping off the wrappers for the candy and stuffing her face.

"I beg to differ..." The chancellor tossed her some more confettis when she held out an eager hand.

He laughed at the ridiculous image Tempesta presented, sprawled out on the floor with candy wrappers everywhere and rolling around in fits of giggles.

"Forgive me, Dear Thundercat, but it looks like you've lost another round. You'll be owing me another favor."

"I'm gonna beat you one day, Ardor!"

"Can't even get my name right." He used his foot to casually push a rolling Tempesta in the opposite direction.

"Will you two fools be quiet? I can barely hear Nebula!" Imperatrix grouched, hardly surprised by her younger retainer's antics, but still wishing the girl would behave.

"You guys are messed up on so many levels." Nyx said with no amount of humor for the situation.

In one room the imperials were terrorizing a little girl and acting buffoonish. In another room a man was being tortured.

He knew the people of this house didn't have good intentions for the group...

Some of the servants had followed Nyx and Nebula out of the dining room, attacking once they started snooping around. The imperials weren't wrong for being hostile right now…

Still…

Torture never sat right with Nyx.

Even when they were at war and the kingsglaive defeated imperial soldiers, he elected not to be included in information gathering with prisoners. Jobs like those were left to people like Luche, who didn't bat an eye at inflicting pain on a non-hostile.

The creep's penchant for interrogation should've tipped Nyx off to what a low-key shit he was.

"That didn't take long. And not a spot on his white uniform! Is the Ace _going soft_?" Ardyn mussed to the discomfort of Aquila.

The young lady tensed as the retainer approached her, paling at the possibility that he was coming for her next.

"Report, Nebula." Imperatrix ordered, drawing his visor off the terrified girl.

"Ortho left instructions for the servants to burn down the manor, killing all of us and making it look like an accident."

"All of us? Even his daughter?!" She squeezed Aquila's hand.

"Yes."

The young lady sucked in a breath, eyes watering again.

"That's some cold shit! Your old man's the worst." Tempesta slurred out, mind losing some of the buzz. She sat up, cross-legged and broody, mumbling out. "Maybe even worse than ours…"

"How…how could someone do something so cruel?" The oracle floundered, heart going out for the poor girl caught in the mess.

Never mind the disastrous fate they were saved from.

"To…their own child?"

"That's not all. Ortho engineered the fall of Saxham. It was the servant's brother that sabotaged the lighthouses and then informed his master of our imminent arrival after securing the town." Nebula recounted, pausing to let the gravity of the news sink in. "It was all a setup."

Imperatrix let go of Aquila, pacing out her boiling anger.

She reverted to Farsi for her curses.

Ardyn drifted over to the young lady's chair, tapping at the wood detailing and making the girl flinch with every sound. She now had two predators looming over her.

"A setup for a grander purpose, I assume. Otherwise it makes little sense for a Senator to intentionally undermine his job." The chancellor sighed exaggeratedly at the trouble. "He just had to flee and make this process even more tedious!"

"I want an immediate warrant issued for Gauis Ortho's arrest. He will stand trial for treason!" Imperatrix dictated without preamble to Ardyn.

"That's it?" He asked, stunning the princess out of her fury with his flippancy and raised his fingers to count off his following statements. "The man did flee and left instructions for our deaths. By my count that's treason, desertion, and attempted murder. I'm not even including his previous perjury in council."

"Man, it's the chopping block or the noose for this guy. Been awhile since someone got the death sentence." Tempesta hopped to her feet, inebriation gone. "And a noble at that. The masses will have a field day!"

The air grew suffocating.

Lunafreya looked pale enough to pass out from both the situation and the mounting pressure of her headache.

She had expected this to be a straightforward visit, no questions asked.

An arrogant imperial would be reprimanded by the princess and his punishment would amount to a slap on the wrist.

After all, butchery and murder seemed the norm in Niflheim, to the point that no one received any kind of sentencing for it.

Glauca, to her her knowledge, hadn't lost his rank in the military for killing an anointed, holy queen and for desecrating sacred land. He should've been put to death for his heinous crimes, yet, the man got to walk free for murdering her mother.

Then once again, the general lived after claiming another anointed sovereign's life. Regis, the closet Lunafreya would get in terms of a father figure after her real one died from illness when she was a child.

The man responsible for taking more from her hadn't ever been punished!

Lunafreya didn't want any part of the princess's justice because she knew a part of her, a part locked far and deep inside of her, wanted to see the corruption purged. She, the woman, not the oracle...wanted to see a man receive his due for harming innocents.

To see others receive retribution when she couldn't…

Those feelings of hers were wrong…they were utterly unbecoming of an oracle!

Her heart must be pure and above the ugliness of humanity. She must never seek things like vengeance…

"What is to be done about the daughter? She is complicit." Nebula voiced, keeping ahold of Aquila's shoulder in case of a bolt.

Imperatrix didn't answer, crossing her arms and pacing.

The scene before her was difficult.

Ardyn and Nebula both lingered by the sides of Aquila's chair, oppressive forces frightening the girl right into tears. Tempesta dallied between the princess and the hold-up, scratching at her neck uncomfortably now that she didn't have alcohol to fall on.

Lunafreya and Nyx were behind Imperatrix and she didn't need to turn around to know they were judging her with disapproving frowns.

"The daughter knew her father fled and said nothing. She chose to lie, pretending father and son were sick in bed. She had more than enough opportunities to come clean." Nebula divulged with no sympathy for the sniveling. "She may not have known the full deception, but she knew enough to do something."

"What would you have me do, Nebula?" Imperatrix paused mid-step, grimly peering into the black rift and imagining the human, blue eyes behind it.

He could be so callous despite her many lessons on altruism.

"Aquila Ortho is a traitor. What do we do with traitors to the crown?" He replied simply, indirectly telling the princess to kill her.

The young lady bit her lip to muffle the whimpers.

"C'mon, she's a kid! Why're you all treating her like she's the one to blame?" Nyx interceded, wanting to comfort the poor girl, but knowing that might agitate the retainer into hurting her.

"Are you deaf? I just said why she's to blame!" The gunman scoffed.

"My, oh my. And I thought he hated us." Ardyn remarked, derisive simpering peeling at the glaive's skin and making his fist tingle with an urge to strike. "You weren't so considerate for our princess when she fell into your clutches."

"What? That's totally different!" Nyx faltered at the turnaround.

Two masked retainers were killing him with their eyes, he just knew it in his gut.

"How so? Imperatrix was unarmed and alone. Not a major threat to you, but it didn't stop you from taking _her_ hostage."

"O-Okay…but…" The glaive became tongue-tied as the chancellor bulldozed over his weak argument.

"Here...we have a similar situation of someone who isn't a major threat, but a threat all the same." Ardyn laid a heavy hand on top of Aquila's head.

His pats a parody of the ones he'd given to the princess.

"Who is to say this little seedling won't become a poisonous flower if allowed to bloom? Would someone in your line of work take that chance?"

Nyx glared fiercely at the chancellor, breath heavy from how painfully he was balling up his fists.

"Perhaps… That is exactly what we need…" Imperatrix's pacing came to a conclusion as she descended into a chair, leaning on her fist to analyze Aquila.

Her mind whirled with possibilities.

All heads directed to the princess.

"Care to enlighten the rest of us, my dear? Poisonous flowers are the bane of every garden. I don't see why you'd want one in yours." The chancellor removed his hand from the girl's head and walked over to Imperatrix.

"Ortho abandoned his daughter, leaving her to die, either by my hand or his. The man cares nothing for Aquila." She sadly took in the young lady, who didn't even react to the observation.

Gods.

She couldn't fathom the pain of being that unloved by a father.

Even the recent ploy with Insomnia wasn't so cruel. At least Imperatrix's father had been willing to martyr her for a worthwhile cause, misguided though it was.

Gauis was going to kill his daughter just for convenience sake.

Whenever the princess felt in doubt of Iedolas's love, she looked to those in their court with less exemplary parents and her faith was renewed.

"I shall not place the sins of the father on the daughter. No, I shall strike him with the very person he has undervalued." Imperatrix announced, smiling at the outcome she'd devised. "I hereby condemn Gauis Ortho and his heir, Augustus Ortho as traitors to the crown. All their lands and titles are seized."

"Stripping him of all he owns doesn't do much when he's not present, Princess." The chancellor drawled. "We don't get to see the meltdown."

"You are correct. Stripping him does little right now. However, granting all his wealth to his daughter and announcing it, is sure to be a blow."

At this, Aquila's head rose so fast the crick could be heard.

Ardyn's apathy gradually transformed to interest as the princess held out her hand.

"Your seal, Chancellor."

"So instead of punishing her, you're rewarding her? Your magnanimity knows no bounds." He might oppose her plan, but he dutifully handed over the seal.

"Nebula, go into Ortho's office and find me paper and ink." The princess spun the seal in her hand, wishing she had her own on hand.

"Princess, I object to this." He impeded her from exiting the parlor.

"I am not gifting her the duchy! Aquila will work for it in Gralea."

The chancellor laughed, coming to the result Imperatrix's mind settled on. "You mean to use her as bait! Gauis will be so angry with the theft that he'll rush to Gralea, where Aquila will turn him in."

"Yes, that is my plan. Is it a satisfactory one?" The princess posed the question to Ardyn, but Nebula was her main target.

The chancellor would go along with her and never mention the incident again. The gunman would hold it over her head for future reference if he found it to be dissatisfying.

Really, as princess she didn't have to answer to anyone, let alone her retainer. Imperatrix, however, wanted to know the opinions and feelings of those around her and encouraged them to speak up as long as they did it in a respectful manner.

"I have no complaints, certainly makes my job easier. Not having to hunt down a wanted man clears up my schedule." Ardyn tracked after the princess, looking over his shoulder at Aquila. "And I'm sure the young lady has no issue with it?"

She dipped into a low curtsy, practically on her knees with a bowed head. "Absolutely not! I am deeply grateful for Her Highness's generosity and confidence."

Imperatrix spun around to address the penitent subject. "You did hear me, yes? That you will have to earn the title of Duchess?"

"Yes, Highness."

"I will be clear. In exchange for your life and continued livelihood, you will turn in your brother and father. Beyond that, you will be in service to the crown. For all intents and purposes, an informant. Do you understand?"

"My life is yours, Your Imperial Highness."

"Good. Your father will rue discarding you." Her retainer moved out of the way with his head lowered in deference, conceding to her will.

Imperatrix exited the parlor with Ardyn giddily on her heels.

Nebula scoffed at Aquila rising from her obeisance. "I would've killed you and been done with it."

He stormed out, mumbling about needing a cigarette. With the most deadly person gone, the young lady scurried out without another word.

Tempesta retrieved the decanter and splayed out on the ground, pouring the last of the liquid into her glass. "That went well."

"You're joking, right?" Nyx grunted out, body and mind calling for bed.

"Nope! Neb's always gunning for Impera to be harsher, but he doesn't win most the time." The fist fighter polished off the swig of wine, head spinning around to locate more liquid fire in the room. "Lucky for everyone here, he didn't have to go gunsling crazy."

"What about the servants? They weren't mentioned at all."

"Them? They'll probably be sent to Gralea as prisoners. Only gonna see the light of day when they testify against their master."

"I guess…that's to be expected…"

"Pfft, they got the short stick. Life in prison is worse than death." Tempesta growled at not spotting any more bottles.

"Speaking from experience?" Nyx laughed at the retainer hopping around to view the contents on some shelves higher up than her head.

He was amazed that they were even having a normal conversation with no threats or insults. Must have been the alcohol making her so chatty.

"I've regained a buzz so I won't punch you, Shit-Head." She fell onto her butt after getting her landing wrong.

"More than buzzed." The glaive snorted at the re-emergence of the name-calling.

"Hey, leave me alone! Worry about Lunar Temple over there. Looks like she needs a drink."

The oracle had gone silent during the debate over Aquila's fate, mind lost in another vision.

"Lunafreya? Luna? Lu…" Nyx nudged her shoulder, surging forward to catch her when she tipped from his touch. "Geez, this kid's been in my arms more than any ex of mine!"

He grunted as he picked her up, figuring she must've fallen asleep.

Too many girls, too many problems.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"I long to return to Gralea…" Imperatrix leaned out the window of her chamber, counting the stars and wishing they were the ones outside the palace.

Even Zegnautus Keep looked preferable to these barren, empty lands of Lucis. She felt the floating fortress was the epitome of cold, devoid of life with all the cyborgs and scientists stomping about.

Nothing but troubles everywhere she looked on this side of the world.

A lost king with no crown city. A mere boy that she'd been asked to make peace with from a dying father.

How in hellfire was Imperatrix to accomplish Regis's wish?

Salvaging the marriage of Noctis and Lunafreya seemed like the most logical answer. Together, they would rebuild Insomnia and submit to the empire, uniting every corner of the world under one rule.

Solheim anew…

She would have to get Lunafreya to Altissa and convince her father of the benefits of the marriage. Then locate Noctis before he went around destroying all their settlements and infuriating the emperor enough to put a death warrant on his head.

Too much to do…

The peace treaty was supposed to end the war!

The princess would have returned home, laying down her sword to live peacefully with her family. Not deal with all this mounting trouble!

Imperatrix was so tired of fighting…

"Brooding again, Dearest?" A voice whispered into her ear.

She startled, falling into waiting arms that secured her close by winding down her shoulders and looping beneath her chest.

"I have much to ponder over." The princess relaxed in the hold after registering that it was Ardyn, hands coming up to clench at his sleeves before clasping at his gloved hands.

Always seeking her out when she wasn't anchored as solidly as a princess should be. Did he have a sixth sense for her low moods?

"I don't think Aquila's fate merits any more thought. She came out of this with more than her head intact." The chancellor lowered his chin onto the top of the princess's head, humming a little tune.

"No thanks to you or Nebula. Your assessment of me being bloodthirsty was erroneous. You and he are the barbarous ones, not I."

"It works out for you that we are such villains. _The_ _White Princess_ remains as pure as newly fallen snow and has earned a loyal spy."

"Do not laud so mockingly! I did not like sentencing a little girl to espionage. Nor forcing her to betray her own blood." Imperatrix released Ardyn's hand, eyes going back to inspecting the constellations.

The morning after the plot had been uncovered, the princess busied herself with proper documentation of her decrees, officiating them with the royal seal Nebula had the foresight to bring. Ardyn signed them off as a witness, which proved to be a chore in itself, as he constantly found ways to distract her or himself from doing the paperwork.

The senators would feel the severity of the documents when they were brought to attention in council. They would cower in their seats as one of their own had the hammer come down on him.

Following the documentation, came the calls on the radio. Imperatrix had to declare martial law with the brigadier general in charge until the commander arrived. They would then take leadership until another senator could be selected for governing the region.

Aquila and the servants were under house arrest until the airships could transport them to Gralea. A trial awaited the workers, while servitude waited the new lady of Ortho.

In the morning, Imperatrix's retinue would be gone from this place.

One step closer to returning home...

"I wasn't making fun of you. I was impressed with your scheming." Ardyn dug his nose into the hollow between Imperatrix's neck and shoulder, nuzzling away like she was scented fabric. "Really, I was captivated with your entire performance. Silly girl gave right in to the kind princess."

She wriggled in his hold, giggling at the prick of stubble against her bare shoulder. The nightgown and robe gave her little protection from an overgrown child.

"S-Stop!" Imperatrix fought against the petting.

The struggling resulted in the princess pressed up to the window ledge, breeze making her robe fall off one shoulder. The red-headed imp nestled up to her with his arms around her waist, securing her from falling out the window.

She glowered defiantly at the amused man, breath quickening from their dangerous position. "I was not acting. Unlike you, I do not feign care."

"I know, my dear. That's what makes it all the more entertaining."

The princess's intrinsic nature of caring made it all the easier to throw her into situations and let the dice fall into place. All she needed was one or two bad apples present and people ate out of the palm of her hand.

A savior among savages.

Imperatrix did indeed make his job easier. Were it not for her, he would've been obligated to kill everyone and hunt down a triviality he cared nothing for.

Ardyn had more important things to do with his time. For example, shoving a lazy child onto the path of destiny.

"Did you complete the rest of your paperwork?"

The mundane question threw the chancellor for a minute and he chuckled, remembering the reason behind sneaking into the princess's chambers.

Not that sneakiness was required when its was so late and there were hardly any occupants to cast a dubious eye his way.

Nebula was holed up in the kitchens, cooking for his tipsy sister.

Tempesta could hold her liquor, but couldn't keep a steady buzz with her body's mechanics. She was probably the most similar to him and the only person alive that could prove to be a challenge in drinking games.

Nyx passed out in his room after tucking in the entranced Lunafreya. The girl had little control over powers.

Truly, a lackluster oracle in his opinion.

"I've come to claim my reward, Radiant Princess of White. A kiss for the completion of that _wretched_ _work_." Ardyn smiled fetchingly, bending closer for the prize.

"A deal is a deal." She angled her head up, a phantom of touch between their lips.

When Imperatrix pulled back, she laughed at the utter look of contempt Ardyn gave her for the chaste affection.

"That was not an equivalent exchange. I think you fail to grasp how arduous my task was."

"Oh...my poor, Darling Caesar, drowning in paperwork." The princess cupped his face in between her hands, stroking his cheeks. "Woe is he!"

"Yes, woe is me." The provocative change in tone wasn't lost on Imperatrix.

She gasped as hands wandered beneath her gown and over her thighs, precariously close to a personal area.

"I had hoped for more, as one does after tasting something forbidden to them."

"Ardyn…not here." She looked over her shoulder at the open window behind her.

Falling out of it wasn't ideal.

"Aww, when have I ever let you fall, Dearest?" He lifted Imperatrix from the ledge and she automatically hooked her legs around his waist.

A surly expression flickered through the sultry one and her hands laced around his throat, unthreatening, but present.

"All the time, Chancellor Izunia."

"I meant behind closed doors, not the times I've used you in politics."

"You are doing the opposite of tempting me at this moment." Imperatrix made to slide down, but Ardyn ground her against him, setting off two entities into irrational yearning.

"Are you sure about that, Impera? You feel inviting to me. An oasis, heat and liquid in one."

He'd claim his reward alright.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Holy shit! What kind of airship is that?!" Nyx went bug-eyed at the differently modeled aircraft.

Unlike the bulky black ones he was used to seeing, this one was smaller, slimmer, and shaped less boxy, looking more like a some kind of fish-bird hybrid with the wings and circular body. The overall white design, black coating, and gold accents alluded to imperial colors, but Nyx had never seen a model of this caliber.

"It's a Setzer model, a throwback from when airships were manned by humans and not robots. It's equipped for passengers to live on." Nebula regurgitated the information for the benefit of the starry-eyed hick.

He was more interested in the princess communicating with the brigadier general and newly arrived commander.

No one could ignore a summon from the heir to the throne.

When Imperatrix sent orders for the commander to arrive in a day, he did, no questions asked. When Imperatrix requested an airship with living quarters, it was provided, posthaste.

Traveling with royalty came with bad she didn't abuse that power more...

Nebula wasn't in the mood to wait around because they had two extra, useless, tag-alongs.

He wanted to stick to the status-quo for their departure. Him in the sidecar, playing on his handheld. Tempesta driving without rest. Lastly, Imperatrix on the backseat with the driver.

Simple and easy...

But no! They had intruders to consider.

"What's this 'Setzer' doing here?" Nyx came to stand beside the motorcycle.

The riders were switched this time. Nebula took the wheel while his sister hunched over in a fetal position in the sidecar.

"Impera requested it for our use. We can't all fit on the motorcycle and the chancellor has other responsibilities than playing chauffeur." Nebula answered, miffed that the glaive was still speaking.

He was in a foul mood from Tempesta's stupidity alone. He had no patience for Nyx's.

"We get to fly that?!" The glaive grinned.

"Hmph! I doubt you'll be piloting."

"Why not? I know to fly, ask Impera."

"Stop addressing her like that! You're not an ally, let alone a friend."

Nyx casually swatted the gun out of his face.

"C'mon man, I thought we were beginning to break the ice." He lightly punched the stiff's shoulder. "I didn't mess up your toy and I helped you foil a conspiracy after you ruined my uniform. What else does a guy need to do for some civility?"

Nebula's neck rose slowly from the spot Nyx punched and then to the man's face. "Don't touch me."

"Another unfriendly Nephilim, great." The glaive took a couple of steps back.

"I'm plenty friendly, you've still got that hand."

"Geez, you're violent! Is it a family thing?"

"You could say that." The gunman snorted, patting his sister's helmet, but really smacking the whining girl. "Tempy got the worst batch of violent genes."

That was an understatement. Tempesta was one of a kind among Verstael's "children".

"When can we go? I wanna crash on a bed." The fist fighter dug into one of the bags attached to the bike.

Nebula smacked her hand after catching her going for a stash of liquor. "You've had enough. Drink some water."

"Don't be a buzzkill! The best way to overcome a hangover is with more booze."

"That is the most ignorant thing I've heard, and you're always babbling out idiotic nonsense."

"Neb, I hate you so much."

"I'm sure the princess feels the same way after your inaneness last night."

"What are you-" Tempesta froze, bursting into cackles.

"You're laughing, but you're getting punished for that." Nebula crossed his arms, understanding Imperatrix's frustration in that regard. "You're a pest."

When would Tempesta quit being a cockblocker?

The gunman wouldn't take Imperatrix's stance and try to reason with the pest for her pettiness. He'd shoot her the next time she interrupted him and his woman in the act...if he even got the chance in the near future...

He barely saw the busy-body spider as was. His time with her when presented was limited. Not to be disturbed by a shitty, brat of a sister, who really wasn't his sister, but got claimed as that for simplicity's sake.

His family was the epitome of messed-up...

"This is your version of hungover? You must be a pro if you got that hammered and are still lucid the next day." Nyx whistled, incredulously appraising the girl he assumed was younger than Lunafreya.

Her behavior was no different from the usual, the version of usual he'd come to understand in their short, unfortunate acquaintance.

"Can you shut up?! Your chattiness is hella annoying." She snarked, snatching the proffered water bottle from Nebula. "Go bother Lunar Temple, Savage Shit."

"And there it is. My cue to leave before I hit a girl." Nyx retorted.

"Try and fight me! You'll end up ass-kicked like the first time." Tempesta shouted with a derogatory hand gesture as the glaive walked over to the blonde comforting the young lady under guard.

When Nyx reached them, the guards cut off whatever conversation the girls were having and ushered Aquila towards the princess and group of military forces.

Lunafreya's mood blackened at the reality she couldn't alter.

"Hey. You okay, kid?" The glaive prompted.

"She has no one and she is being sent to the most dangerous place in Eos." Her face booked no emotion to alert any of the watchful eyes, but Lunafreya was angered on Aquila's behalf.

That she should suffer for her father's machinations was unfair! The senator deserved to be completing this walk of shame.

"Gralea's like the hotspot of Niflheim, right? Rich folks partying and gambling, a noble's playground. Aren't you exaggerating a bit?"

"It is the rich and powerful who are steeped in lies, murder, and betrayal. The great Domus Aurea is death to a young, unaccompanied girl."

Nyx shuffled uncomfortably. "Are you speaking from experience?"

"Nothing happened to me, but I saw enough."

"I'll have to take your word on it, but there's nothing we can do. We all might've burned to death if things didn't play out how they did." He nudged Lunafreya's shoulder to comfort her. "It's out of our hands and Aquila's still alive, maybe she'll come to like her new home."

The oracle lifted her lips in a small smile to reassure Nyx.

Yes, Aquila lived. That was a mercy denied to her mother for crossing the empire.

The chancellor appeared out of nowhere, inserting himself into the conversation.

"Ah, Lady Lunafreya! It is good to see you've your wits about you." He feigned worry, holding a hand over his heart. "The princess was quite afraid she wouldn't be able to tear you from the piano."

Lunafreya blushed.

Visions had been consuming her mind, leaving little control. Most the previous day's events were lost to her.

Something monumental was on the rise and the oracle would soon be made aware of it through the god's blessings.

"Do you require assistance to the airship? If you feel faint, do say so, my lady." Ardyn's words dripped with insult.

Lunafreya wanted to leave and never encounter the chancellor again.

What an awful, awful man!

"I am in perfectly good health, Chancellor Izunia." She brushed passed him in a flurry, heading to a waiting Imperatrix.

Ardyn and Nyx were left alone to observe the other.

The glaive sneered at the silent appraisal. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." He got waved off with exceeding nonchalance. "A word of advice. She leads, she is not led."

Nyx let out a befuddled sound and no further elaboration was given by the elusive chancellor, who chuckled and waltzed off.

"What the hell was that?" The glaive scratched at his growing hair on the side of his head. "Whatever. I'm not going to rack my brain over it."

He trudged forwards.

The loading dock of the Setzer lowered from Imperatrix inputing the code. Nebula drove the motorcycle up the ramp and Lunafreya wordlessly entered. When Nyx approached her, the princess looked away from Ardyn retrieving suitcases out of his trunk.

"I take it Lunafreya is displeased with me?" She cut to the point.

"What gave it away, Princess?"

"The typical. The silent treatment and general ignorance of my existence."

Nyx laughed at her frankness. "Kids, huh?"

"If I were not versed in dealing with troublesome youths, I would not be handling this well."

"Trouble sticks to you. I thought I had it bad with Libertus and that prick, Luche, but you've got it worse with two psycho retainers and a sulky oracle." Nyx inched closer to Imperatrix, grinning cockily as he whispered to her. "Feel free to cry on my shoulder when it gets too tough. Dad's here for you."

She stepped away from the heavy closeness and winced from a shoot of pain.

"Huh, you okay? Falling for me again?" He caught her wrist, tugging her back on balance and setting them right back to the original nearness of almost touching.

Imperatrix twisted her hand out of his grasp and primly shot him down. "If I fall, it is because your pursuits fatigue me."

"Yeah, right, Impera." Nyx didn't believe her for a second from how flustered she could get over casual touches.

He tilted his head at her rigid shuffling.

"Are you sure you're okay? You're almost as tense as me and I'm still recovering."

Did the fighting do a number on her? She did pass out for two days and then jumped straight in more fire.

They all needed a break.

If only Hypnosis were available…wait. The airship could take them!

"Concern yourself not with me, but with your charge." A slight blush entered Imperatrix's cheeks.

Temperance. She failed that lesson throughly.

As if the previous tryst wasn't enough on her body, the princess tortured herself more by engaging in an entire night of intimacy and then as morning came, Ardyn hadn't wanted to let her out of his arms.

He was a hindrance to morning preparations. Chiefly, a distraction in the shower from their last bout of foolishness.

Lucky for Imperatrix, most her companions were late risers and uttered no grievances for the delayed start.

"Heads up!"

Nyx barely heard the warning and managed to catch a duffle bag thrown at him. Imperatrix kept him from tipping into her by pushing on his back and setting him upright.

"What the hell?!"

"I did warn you, good fellow." Ardyn breezed by, carting suitcases up the ramp. "Be a good boy and help with the bags."

"What bags?! And who's is this?!"

"Stop shouting." Nebula hopped off the ramp, plucking the duffle out of Nyx's hands. "This is mine, hands off."

He didn't wait for the glaive to speak and slogged towards the red convertible, retrieving the other bags belonging to him and his sister that couldn't fit in the motorcycle's compartments.

"Calm yourself, Nyx." Imperatrix chided when he looked ready to jump someone.

"I'm up to here with people's attitudes." He gestured to his level of annoyance by marking his hand higher than the princess's head.

She laughed at him, waving for him to follow her into the airship.

Nyx chilled at watching her new gait with heeled boots versus the flat combat-boots she sported before. The cape billowed behind her.

"I'm digging the new look." He muttered to himself, speeding after the woman.

"To see the shoe on the other foot, how curious..." She smirked once he matched pace with her, leading him down a bright and open hallway.

"Wha, what? I wasn't that aggressive or rude to you!"

"I beg to differ."

"Okay, I'll bite. What's the worst thing I did or said?"

"Besides taking me hostage?"

Nyx bent backwards to groan.

"By Fenrir's fur, I'm gonna have that hanging over my head forever!" He waved a hand impatiently. "Besides that."

"Threatening me with your kukri." She fluttered her eyes, cheered at getting under his skin.

"Cut out anything to do with Insomnia, Princess."

"Hmm, the accusations…the derogatory race remarks…" Imperatrix smiled patronizingly. "Do I need to go on?'

"No." Nyx sniffed, crossing his arms. "But let me remind you, I did take a mighty punch from you for the insults."

"Indeed you did, but you said it was a love tap, nothing to complain over."

"I won't complain if that's your idea of foreplay."

Imperatrix halted.

"What?" He smiled innocently.

She huffed and proceeded to give him a tour of the airship, rewriting Nyx's knowledge on classic airships and bringing out a geekier sider to him.

The dining area and recreational room were briefly explored. The bridge where the controls for flying the vessel was where they took a lengthy pause as the glaive threw question after question at Imperatrix and bugged her for the chance to fly it. She gave the request a go-ahead, already familiar with his skill.

It proved to be a trial to remove Nyx from the room to continue the tour, but he conceded when she looped their arms together and dragged him out.

He was all whistles and grins as the princess took him to the final stop of the tour, the living quarters.

Six rooms were in the hallway and the glaive was told to pick one that wasn't locked, as his.

"Hey, hey! Why are you leaving? Don't you want to show me the room?" Nyx skipped in front of Imperatrix when she disconnected their knotted arms.

"I am sure you do not need my help figuring out what's what in your room."

"Welllll…" He drawled with a lopsided smirk.

She frowned only for a second before smiling coyly. "I suppose...I could help you."

"Yes, you can, Princess." He quickly agreed.

Imperatrix lightly pushed him into a door, still smiling unassumingly.

"I was pretty disappointed to not be woken up with you tussling on top of me." Nyx kept flirting, paying no attention to the woman fiddling with the doorknob.

"So sorry, Nyx. Can you forgive my grievous error?"

"For a kiss, yeah." He ducked to her height.

The princess leaned close and the glaive really thought his curiosity would be sated, but the door behind him opened.

He fell into the room.

"Try harder next time, Sir Ulric." Imperatrix waved goodbye at the man sprawled out on the floor.

Nyx's laughter could still be heard as she turned the corner for the commodore's quarters, where she knew Ardyn waited.

"Think fast."

Th princess's lighting reflexes caught the object and turned it over in her hand. "A cellphone?"

She clicked it on and softened at the background. A picture of simpler times with her sisters, father, and uncle.

"Wait a moment. How does this have my data on it?"

A slew of messages, emails, missed phone calls, and voice mails popped on the screen. The notifications dated from recently to all the way back to the peace treaty.

"I took the liberty of installing your chip for you. I know how confusing it can be for you." Ardyn shifted on the bed, kicking at the suitcase in front of him. "Passports, bank cards, and all the other nifty trinkets can be found inside."

Imperatrix came to stand before the chancellor.

"You are…prepared beyond coincidence."

He steered her between his legs, holding her hips and rubbing circles over the areas he knew were tender from all his grasping.

"As I said, I had every bit of confidence in your ability to triumph."

"Non ducor, duco." Imperatrix imparted with minimal vexation.

Ardyn chortled from her unknowingly parroting him. Her words were of a different warning than the one he gave to Nyx.

"Do not use me so treacherously again, Ardyn!"

He hushed her with a smooch to the forehead, offering up no promises for what was to come in the following days. "Dearest Musa, permit me to taste you a final time before parting."

Imperatrix had only a fleeting second before she was swallowed into strong arms and mouth seized. His impassioned kiss and consuming embrace lulled her into the enduring depth of love that was known as agape.

The princess would've crumpled to the floor upon separation were it not for Ardyn gently depositing her on the bed.

"By that kiss, I vow endless bliss." He ran his knuckles down her face, sparring her the gimmick and revealing a fragmentary glimpse of genuine attachment.

The kind of attachment someone of his cursed state shouldn't dare to have.

"Ardyn." She cradled his face, but he regretfully removed her hands.

"No, no, no. We've both had our fill." The chancellor moved away from her before he could get caught in her spell. "Temperance, my dear."

"Ardyn, wait!"

He stopped at the door, giving her his ear, but not turning around and making his departure harder than it needed to be.

"Ama me fideliter. Fidem meam toto: de corde totaliter, et ex mente tota. Sum presentialiter, absens in remota."

"Impera…you are making it beyond impossible to leave..." The red-head exhaled pitifully, shoulders sinking and chest aching.

He swirled around to catch one last glimpse and blew a kiss in farewell.

"Till next we meet, my dearest love, Meus Musa!"

The door closed and her love gone with the wind.

"Valeas quam optime, Darling Caesar…" The princess fell backwards, becoming a victim of melancholy.

Her new phone buzzed next to her head.

Bubbles could only last so long...

While Fortuna's wheel may spin with her Ardyn on top, it spun with her father on the bottom. Imperatrix was terrified to see if he left any messages for her.

She was scared to move forward after such a blow.


	11. Chapter 11

**French**

 **Pelerinage de Grace** \- Pilgrimage of Grace.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Hmm, the sloths cometh." Imperatrix joked, lifting her head from the crook of her elbow where it rested atop her knee.

Nyx, Lunafreya, and Tempesta stumbled into the chairs at the dining table, all looking disheveled from rolling straight out of bed with minimal self-care.

Nyx in his sweats and t-shirt was the most awake and clean-looking with his moderate bed hair. He was in need of a haircut to balance out the asymmetrical style of his growing side-hair versus the long mohawk reaching the ends of his neck and falling haphazardly in his face. A trim on his beard was in order too.

The glaive wasn't…entirely unappealing in his ruggedness...

Lunafreya yawned multiple times into her hand. Even though she wasn't in any way coherent, she still looked adorable in her overly conservative nightgown and with her wavy, loose hair creating a halo around the innocent face.

Imperatrix wanted to take a picture and send it to Ravus.

Tempesta…

Tempesta had not a care for other's comfortableness. She was clothed in the absolute minimum, a tank top that barely covered her stripped underwear. No bra was utilized. Her mask was still in place and the princess lamented on how that was the only sensible article on the fist fighter.

Lunafreya would be mortified by all the skin. She freaked out the first couple of times Imperatrix was garbed in shorts and a training bra.

Nyx…

The dog would have his lecherous eyes all over her little darling.

"My stomach's eating itself." Tempesta whined, stomach roaring right on cue with the grievance. "Neb, feed me!"

"Stop yelling." He growled from the nearby kitchen, still in the process of cooking breakfast.

"Yo, why are you two still wearing masks? It's just us." Nyx grunted, gesturing to the people in the room and doing a double-take on Tempesta as his brain caught up to what he was seeing. "And why don't you have any clothes on, brat?"

He didn't know whether to to be grossed out or responsive to Tempesta's apparent tastes.

The girl, or maybe woman from the wide hips…but her chest was smaller than he remembered…

Her inappropriate posture of feet on the table and her suspended over the side of the chair wasn't leaving anything to imagination.

It was too early for his brain and body to be on the same page. He registered all this as something he shouldn't leer at...but it was hard not to...

If only Tempesta would remove the mask!

"So many questions." The fist fighter brushed him off with a shrug, electing not to answer a thing just to mess with the glaive.

Nyx rolled his eyes, switching his attention to Imperatrix. "What's with your getup? What happened to the slinky princess garbs? Where's your cape?"

She smirked at his fixation with her uniform. "These are my training clothes. While others waste the morning sleeping, I enhance my body."

Her outfit consisted of a tube top, sirwal trousers, and long fingerless gloves. She'd forgone wearing shoes, preferring the coolness of the floor.

Her hair had grown enough that it needed to be pinned up to not be a nuisance. Imperatrix was greatly pleased to have a piece of femininity returned to her, but then she had been reminded of the complications that came with self-styling long hair.

Manipulating Tempesta's jutting spikes or any of her sister's hair was a practice she'd become dexterous in, translating the same methods on her own hair proved onerous. The princess gave in trying to recreate an old fashion of Gralean ladies and asked Nebula to help her.

Watching him braid and weave her hair into complicated bun designs brought back memories of the old days when she initially teased the stoic, young boy into playing with her hair in an effort to thaw his unemotional behavior.

He took it as an order and did the task with mechanical diligence.

His efforts ended up alarming her maids and they corrected it. From then on, Nebula endeavored to improve, breaking their distant roles as princess and servant by asking Imperatrix if he could practice more on her hair and beginning a new tradition.

The gunman may have viewed it as correcting a failure, but to the princess it was an enjoyable ritual. For once, she was the one being indulged instead of the one giving out rampant affection.

Her Darling Nebula became a star stylist and dear friend.

"I should get back into the habit of a morning workout." Nyx sank in his chair, exhaling out his very soul in dismay. "I was really liking the extra hours of sleep. Man, the things I do for princesses."

"I fail to see how you would be doing it for me." Imperatrix stood to help Nebula distribute plates.

"You've been dying to fight me and I'm dying to see if I can break _The Unbreakable Sword_." The glaive boasted, his eyes dark with intent as the princess set his plate in front of him.

"Nyx…"

He couldn't possibly be speaking of sparring with those eyes swallowing her, making her place the cup of juice down too hard.

Imperatrix met his provocation, invading his personal space for a change and he momentarily startled at the play. "You will fall to your knees, kowtowing as every fool that dares challenge me, Nyx Ulric."

"Pfft, we'll see who ends up on the their knees." He whispered and smirked roguishly. "Find me the next time you train, Impera."

"Soon." She guaranteed, moving onto serving Lunafreya and stopping the girl from pitching into the table. "Everyone on this vessel will subject to conditioning." The princess announced firmly.

Unexcited groans escaped from the retainers.

"Are you well, Lunafreya? Your behavior has been most alarming." Imperatrix inquired, brushing blonde locks out the way and pressing the back of her palm to the girl's forehead, checking for a temperature.

The oracle had been dazed, out of touch with reality since leaving Saxham.

At the manor she spent all her time fiddling with the piano, formulating some composition that none of them could understand. Now, she stayed cooped up in her room, same unintelligible song carrying faintly through the halls.

Imperatrix would have left the matter alone, chalking it up as an artistic takeover. She'd seen similar conduct from Ardyn and Euphemia. However, Lunafreya's episodes were worrisome, working more like blackouts with the oracle experiencing large gaps in her memory.

It was unsettling to watch her seize with visions and sensations, muttering in the language of the gods. The times Lunafreya awoke Imperatrix with her surreal dreams were tame compared to these breaks the girl was suffering.

The princess could slowly see the seams of Ravus's fears for his sister. If the powers bestowed on her came with such drawbacks, she couldn't entirely fault him for being paranoid beyond reason for the girl's safety.

Less kind and cruel individuals would stigmatize Lunafreya as a schizophrenic and want her detained to an asylum. The people of Tenebrae exuded warmth as pinnacles of The Faith of the Six, but they could be intolerant zealots for things outside the norm.

The Fleurets did a staggering job of hiding the more unnatural side-effects of their gifts.

"I am…well…" Lunafreya turned from the touch on her forehead, refusing to elaborate more on the subject.

Imperatrix backed off, returning to her seat to dine.

Breakfast proceeded with little fanfare as most the occupants ventured into awareness. Nyx got bored with the silence, turning on the tv monitor attached to the wall, flickering through channels until the princess requested he go back to the news. He gave in with an unimpressed snort for her dull selection.

Royals and the news were like honey and bees.

"You'd rather watch a special about earthquakes than an over-the-top soap opera?" He gulped down his juice, entertaining himself with keeping an eye on Tempesta to make sure she didn't kick him under the table accidentally while she bullied her brother into refilling her plate.

"Shush, Nyx." Imperatrix mumbled, eyebrows furrowing and chin landing on her laced fingers, mind internalizing the program and recalling an event.

Ardyn talked her ear off about earthquakes. Now news reporters were covering the strangeness of increased seismic activity and its effect on the Duscae region?

It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Stop kicking me." Nebula seethed, hand tossing a knife at his sister.

She tilted her head, blade missing her neck and lodging into the chair.

"Then make me another plate!"

The knife was yanked out and thrown back to its owner.

"Get up and do it yourself." He caught it in between two fingers and twirled it around.

"No, you're the cook. You do it!"

The gunman threw the knife again in answer.

"I can do this all day!"

A game of toss ensued with dangerous utensils.

Nyx gawked at the sibling spat, never having done anything remotely similar with his sister.

"Are you two for real?!" He yelped, ducking a spoon coming for his head. "Watch it!"

"Then shuddup and mind your business, Savage!"

"Tempesta, be seated." Imperatrix dryly instructed to the scandalous girl standing on the table with her panties being flashed at everyone.

She was infinitely jealous of how smooth the fist fighter's skin was. Not a hair on her except for the crown of her head.

Lucky little freckle cat.

"Or don't…" The glaive lost his indignation while looking up.

He burned to see those damned helmets removed.

Nyx wasn't sure how appropriate it was for him to ogle Tempesta when he didn't know for sure how old she was. Chick had to be over twenty-one at least, because she drank like a sailor and no one called her out on it.

Still…

Anything under twenty-six or twenty-five made him feel itchy…

Nyx let out another yelp when a bawled-up napkin hit him in the face. "Who threw that?!"

Imperatrix hummed innocently in the face of her retainers pointing at her.

"You're supposed to be the mom, not one of the kids."

"Even Mom needs a break here and there." The princess fluttered her eyes.

He tossed the napkin at her, hitting Imperatrix in the nose and she gaped at him. "Two can play that game, hun."

"You heard Her Highness, sit down and stop flashing people!" Nebula stood with a gun aimed at his sister and the antics came to a jarring end.

Tempesta kicked her plate towards him.

They had a standoff for precious seconds that felt like hours to the onlookers. The elder sighed, holstering his gun and snatching up the plate.

"For the sake of peace and quiet, I do this."

Tempesta puffed up in victory, falling back into her seat and cackling.

"Man, I feel for him. I couldn't deal with you as a sibling…" Nyx murmured.

"How is your arm, Tempesta?" Imperatrix motioned for the retainer to display her arm.

"As good as new." She brandished the limb in a fist-bump towards the princess.

She lightly ran her fingers over where the cut had completely healed.

On a regular person, the hi-potion wouldn't have worked so flawlessly. A nasty scar would've been the result, but Tempesta's genes gave her heightened healing.

"You are in good shape for training then. After breakfast we shall convene in the gym."

"Impera, no way! We just fought off daemons." The fist fighter slammed her hands on the table, making some of the silverware rattle. "I wanna chill now!"

"You may play your video games in the evening. Daylight hours are for work." The princess frowned, unmoved by the childish whining. "Or have you forgotten that?"

She growled under her breath, shoving food into her mouth from the plate Nebula pushed in front of her.

The gunman only got in a few snickers from his sister's anguish before Imperatrix dragged him into the pit too, cutting short the amusement.

"Nebula, you shall have to do twice the usual."

"Forgive me. I may have misheard you, Princess." He wheezed out after the mix of a chuckle and cough went wrong.

"You heard me fine, Young Lord Besithia."

"Then why?"

"Do not think to fool me. You have clearly been slacking in fitness!" It was the elder's turn to receive a disappointed deadpan. "Your sluggish movements and faint panting did not go unnoticed on our mission."

He subtly sank in his chair.

"Hah! There ya go, Geezer!" The fist fighter needled him.

"Tempesta shall be doing _ten times_ the usual set." Imperatrix stated with too much calm, finishing the last of her tea and setting it down. "Consider this a reminder to behave in a manner befitting a _royal retainer_."

She went deadly immobile.

"I told you punishment was coming, Pest." Nebula controlled himself, jerking in his seat to prevent any of his laughter from coming out and increasing his own torture session.

Tempesta died a little more, falling onto the table with her food forgotten and tasting like ash on her tongue. Just the thought of the physical agony she would soon be subject to was enough to make her whimper.

"You're going straight back to training? I thought you'd wait at least a day for more hardcore stuff." Nyx grimaced, his earlier taunts were about to bite him in the ass.

He wanted to chill out, too. His leg was bothering him and he didn't want to look weak in conditioning because he was limping around.

"I am not expecting you or Lunafreya to join." Imperatrix reassured Nyx's unspoken worry. "Neither of you are at a place for heavy activity."

"You haven't made her do anything 'heavy'." The glaive retorted, stealing the remote and searching for something to watch now that he was in the clear.

"For good reason. She keels over easily and has little resolve."

"Ohhh, you're gonna get her started with talk like that." He looked at Lunafreya, expecting to see belligerence, but she lifted her head, absently taking in the conversation. "Uh, are you still not awake? C'mon, kid, you might be worse than the prince."

"Where are we going?" She asked with little thought to what Nyx said.

Everyone present shifted their heads in confusion.

The princess had gathered everyone on the bridge yesterday to explain her plan to deliver Lunafreya and Nyx to Altissa, where they would wait in the Aldercapt estate while Imperatrix traveled to Gralea to broker the continuation of the marriage between the Princess of Tenebrae and the Prince of Insomnia in an effort to renew the peace treaty.

The oracle had been quiet at the time and since she didn't protest anything, it was assumed she was in agreement.

Nyx was the talker for the two of them, figuring out arrangements for their stay in Altissa. Under no circumstances was he going to accept the girl being held prisoner again by imperials and he wanted Lunafreya to have all the privileges a princess should.

His demands just about started a two-on-one fight between the imperial retainers and the Tenebraen retainer.

The glaive had no idea the political shit-storm he ventured into with that one comment.

"Kid, we're going to Altissa. Just like the king asked." Nyx said gravely before one of the caustic jerks could reply.

"Altissa?" She blinked and life returned to her countenance, panic establishing itself in her gut. "We cannot go there. It is not time!"

"Why…not?" His face scrunched up, really speculating if Lunafreya had lost her marbles. "It's the whole reason for…this!"

Nyx wildly gestured to the unlikely group of people stuck on an airship. The sooner he could get away from the psycho siblings, the better.

Unlikely was actually an extreme understatement.

A month ago he would've laughed and spat at the ground if anyone tried to tell him he would be traveling with a bunch of Niffs, and the crown princess to boot.

He still found himself laying in bed, or sleeping bag some nights, disoriented and trapped between thinking he'd died the morning after the peace treaty and the reality of being alive sans magic.

It took him seeing Lunafreya and Imperatrix for Nyx's mind to settle and him to realize that yes, he was alive, and in the company of two pretty princesses that drove him up the wall.

"We cannot head for Altissa. The Disc of Cauthess must be our destination."

"Why would we go there? To see the meteor?" Imperatrix hushed the jeering of Tempesta, at least humoring the impassioned oracle. "The war goes on between Lucis and Niflheim. We do not have time for an interlude."

She still hadn't told the oracle of Noctis's involvement at the base. The princess wasn't sure if she wished to pervade Lunafreya's image of the boy.

Scant memories were all she had at the moment since their reunion wouldn't be happening soon. Why dissolve that?

Although…

An intermission might prove beneficial for the sheltered girl. Perhaps she'd been pushed too hard, leading to the episodes.

"It is not an 'interlude'. it is a matter of urgency! I am being called on by the gods to perform my duties as oracle."

"By the gods?" The princess repeated, an involuntary shudder running through her.

Ice, snow, blood, explosions, and screams filtered through Imperatrix's mind at breakneck speed, quickening her pulse and she gripped onto the table. She faced towards the window to hide her reaction.

"And what duty would they have you complete, Lady Lunafreya?" Nebula perceived the distress, setting his hand on top of the one clenching the table.

The oracle glanced furtively at the three imperials, lowering her head to avoid eye contact. "I cannot say."

"Typical." He grunted, letting go of Imperatrix's hand to cross his arms and focus the visor on the blonde, knowing how uncomfortable it made people. "You run your mouth off when defaming us, but go tight-lipped for anything else."

She pursed her lips, tempted to not respond out of spite, but to prove the retainer wrong she countered. "The gods wait for no one. Their will must be obeyed."

"So, 'the gods' won't be sharing their reasons with the rest of the table?"

"No."

Nebula switched from Lunafreya to Nyx. "Any idea for your liege's flight of fancy?"

"If I knew how that mind worked, I could've saved myself a lot of heart attacks." The glaive shrugged.

The oracle pulled way too many stunts in Insomnia and…this was looking like it might be a repeat of something crazy from her. Nyx would keep both eyes and ears on the reckless blonde.

There'd be no jumping out of airships this time. He didn't have warping to save the day.

"Does this visit to the Disc relate to…what did Ravus call it?" Imperatrix rubbed her forehead, reaching for a imperceptible memory. "A pilgrimage? Or…some other rite?"

Lunafreya's eyebrows rose to her hairline. "My brother told you of our _Pelerinage de grace_?"

The princess smiled triumphantly after hearing the familiar term. "Yes, that is what he called it."

"Why would Ravus tell _you_?"

"Because I asked…" Imperatrix was surprised by the umbrage coming off the girl. "I found it strange for him to request an extended leave from the military and inquired as to why."

A religious expedition wasn't what she expected from him, but it was better than the usual reason of Lunafreya's declining health.

The oracle scowled, stewing in her seat.

"Why's she mad and what's the thing she said in French?" Tempesta rocked backwards in the chair.

"I suppose…I should leave that explanation to someone else." Imperatrix observed her retainer tilting in the chair, anxious that the magnets wouldn't keep the chair aloft and she would crash to he floor.

"Well, Lunar Temple? Impera threw you a bone. Why aren't you taking it?"

The blonde twitched at the offensive name-calling. "Every Fleuret is expected to go on a pilgrimage to the holy sites of The Six as a rite of passage into adulthood."

"Hells, was it so hard to share that? Why not lead with that?!" Tempesta's temper lash caused the chair to tip and she fell.

The visor took the brute of the head damage.

Nebula didn't react to the accident. Imperatrix sighed and helped the fist fighter to her feet.

"We shall have to take the Setzer off autopilot and fly manually if we are to make good time to the Disc." The princess declared with a little disgruntlement.

She didn't like her plans being altered, but flexibility was a must for royalty. Either Nebula or herself would have to pilot instead of training like she planned.

"We're going back to Duscae? Great." Tempesta groaned long and loud.

"Go change your clothing and meet me in the gym." Imperatrix softly nudged her retainer for the door.

"Fine. I'm gonna kick your butt, Shitty Princess." The fist fighter stomped out, shouting about her prowess and upcoming victory.

"Shouldn't you be thanking Her Highness for complying with your inconvenient request? You're setting us behind schedule and making us backtrack." Nebula stood, visor focused on Lunafreya.

She defiantly glared into the black screen.

"You have my gratitude, Princess Imperatrix." Was the barbed response.

He scoffed. "No curtsy…or at least a bow of your noble head? Where have your manners gone, my lady?"

"Nebula, enough." The princess ordered since the oracle's expression went from overt anger to blank frigidness.

The gunman conceded, beginning to retrieve the leftover dishes his sister didn't put up. Tempesta always left plates strewn about.

Little pig pest.

"So…who's flying?" Nyx finally looked away from the tv.

He'd bowed out from the argument in favor of a comedy rerun.

"Nebula and I." Imperatrix answered.

"Hey, you agreed to let me in the pilot's seat!" The glaive looked expectantly at her, handing off his and Lunafreya's plates when she came near to ask for them.

"This model is different from the airships you have flown. I will indulge your compulsion under different circumstances." She took the dishes into the kitchen and assisted her retainer in cleaning them.

"I'm not gonna break Setzer." Nyx trailed over to the counter, leaning on it to marvel at a princess washing things voluntarily.

He thought Imperatrix did menial tasks like that under his mom's insistence and wouldn't be bothered with them afterwards. Guess he was wrong.

"Why is he hung-up on piloting?" Nebula asked the princess.

"I do not know. He seems fascinated with vehicles, land and air. Interesting, since he is from an island of nature."

"I'm right here. I can hear everything." Nyx grunted.

"No idea why you're still here. Haven't you done enough leering for the morning?" Nebula's mouth piece was back in place and his voice scrambled, but Imperatrix knew he was speaking as dryly as the glaive and giggled.

"Oh, boy. Am I about to get a territorial speech?" The glaive rolled his eyes.

"Something like that."

Nyx yowled, falling backwards as a gun went off in his direction. His heart pounded erratically and he ran his hands over his body for holes or darts.

The gunman casually leaned on the countertop separating the kitchen and dining area, twirling a gun. "There...my speech. Got it memorized, Sir Ulric?"

"You asshole!"

"Asshole, am I? Maybe I ought to switch the blanks for bullets." Nebula made a show of reaching into his uniform for ammo, but was really searching for a cigarette. "Thought I was being generously nice."

"Did I say 'asshole'? Must've been confused." Nyx got to his feet and out of the gunman's immediate line of sight.

The psycho could pull out a gun and fire faster than he could see. Assassin-level shit right there!

"Good man." Nebula vacated the kitchen, stopping a few feet away from the glaive. "I don't like you, but we are the only males in this female-infested ship. Tread smartly and I might be inclined to be friendly."

"Roger that…" Nyx saluted jokingly, eyes primed for another sneak attack.

He snickered, calling for the princess. "I'll be on the bridge for first shift."

"When I relieve you, I expect your workout to be completed." Imperatrix reminded him.

He sighed deeply and slugged out the room.

The princess finished in the kitchen, turned off the tv, and set the chairs in place.

"And then there were two." Nyx grinned at Imperatrix.

She shook her head, staying on the other end of the table and far from the glaive. "You should pay more attention to Lunafreya. Did you even see her leave?"

The girl had slipped out when no one was looking.

"If you haven't noticed, she makes this really prissy face when someone hovers too much. I don't get that face as much as _you do_ , but I get it all the same." He elaborated, shortening the distance between them. "I don't think we need to be worried about childish antics."

Nyx chuckled when Imperatrix mirrored his movements, going in the opposite direction to keep a wide berth.

"Why did you agree?" The glaive paused, seriousness taking over. "Even to me, Lunafreya's reasoning was shady."

Imperatrix leaned over the top of a chair, contemplating if sharing her thoughts was wise. "I agreed mainly out of concern for her health. If this small trip can end her _oddness_ , then I am willing to make the time."

"You really can't stop those mom-genes."

She jumped at how close Nyx had gotten in her lapse. He draped an arm over her shoulders.

"You're so strange for an imperial princess."

"You are bold, borderline _impertinent_ for a commoner." She shrugged off his arm and slipped away.

"Pah! And the stunt you pulled yesterday wasn't audacious? See, I can use fancy words like you, Princess." Nyx smirked, getting right in her space, repeating this process the more Imperatrix tried to add distance. "You want to be chased and I'm game for that."

What hunter wasn't?

"I want _none_ of your prideful ploys of conquest." The princess leaped back when he reached for her.

A gleam of mischief that was very familiar to her from another problematic male in her life, appeared in Nyx's eyes.

"That's bullshit."

A sudden game of tag began with Imperatrix spinning away from Nyx's playful lunges.

"Stop it! Stop chasing me!" She yelled before darting out the dining room with a thirty-two year old man hot on her heels.

"Not a chance!"

At a turn in the hallway the glaive caught the wall, using it for a boost and gaining on Imperatrix enough to graze her lower backside. She screamed indignantly, whirling around to kick him. He slid at the last second, avoiding the attack.

"What're you blushing about? I barely got to feel anything from how baggy those weird pants are!" He rolled away from her trying to stomp on him and jumped to his feet.

"They are my sirwals and they are not weird, you uncultured dog!" Imperatrix huffed, red-faced out of mortification for the breech of propriety.

Never! Never had she'd been tormented with such a bold man!

Ardyn didn't perform such bawdy foolery with her and he'd done more and seen more of her than any other man.

Damned Nyx Ulric!

"So you can be as rude as that loudmouth brat." Nyx laughed, more than amused with how timid she was over a slap on the ass.

Not that he even got that far.

Imperatrix gasped, covering her mouth and going redder. "You are right. That was awfully ill-mannered of me."

"Yeah, yeah. You need to make it up to me."

"I already apologized. What more-" She screeched when his hand seized her hip with the intention of dragging her towards him. "I take it back! You are lower than a dog. A mongrel!"

Imperatrix wrenched away and the game of tag went on with Nyx keen on capturing the runaway princess. It was like indoor parkour with all their leaping and jumping throughout the hallways, hanger, and finally into the gym.

Nyx called for a time-out and laid out on the floor mat, clenching his leg. Imperatrix forgot her annoyance and rushed to his aid, rolling up the glaive's sweats to check the brace.

"You are an imbecile." She critiqued without remorse. "Why engage me juvenilely when your leg was hurting?!"

The swelling wasn't too bad, but Nyx would need to ice his leg.

"No pain, no gain…" He inspected the room instead of focusing on the shoots of pain up his leg that were triggering the burning sensations in his arm and scarring on his face.

This was the one room she didn't show him on the tour.

A military-styled fitness room with plenty of equipment to keep a person busy. There were even all kinds of weapons hanging from the walls. Imperatrix probably didn't show it at first because of his injuries.

How lame to have her coddle him like Lunafreya. He would be in tip-top shape in no time.

"Hmm, that is Glauca you are channeling." The princess let go go his leg and scooted back.

"It wasn't training until you bled or broke something with him."

"Do you…" Imperatrix trailed off, deciding not to broach the topic.

"Don't do that. If you wanna say something, say it." Nyx rested the back of his head on his palms. "One thing I like about you is your frankness."

He had an idea of where she was going.

"Do you believe he died in Insomnia?" Imperatrix looked him in the eye.

Nyx was the only other person she could speak with regarding Glauca's demise. The only other person that might comprehend her sense of betrayal…

Glauca had taught her. Titus Drautos had taught Nyx. How funny that two people on opposite sides of the world shared a one-of-a-kind teacher.

"He's inhumanly resistant. My bet's on him still living. The _where's_ what bugs me." Nyx spoke honestly when he could've wished the traitor dead.

"I like to think he has returned to his homeland." Imperatrix looked away from the swords on display and banished a vision of the armored titan prompting her to chose a weapon and to come at him with the intent to kill.

His cruel lessons opened her naive eyes.

"Where's that? He tell you, cause Drautos was mum when we asked him, only saying the empire burned his home to the ground."

"I…do not know."

"C'mon, tell me."

"Nyx, I do not know."

He grunted, unsatisfied. "You really expect me to believe you don't know _any_ juicy details about him?"

"Nyx, I did not even know what Glauca looked like until he revealed himself in Insomnia."

"You're joking."

"I am not."

The man whistled jokingly. "You didn't know the man at all then."

Imperatrix visibly deflated and he groaned from how vulnerable-looking she became with those misty eyes, furrowed eyebrows, and trembling lips. His stomach dropped.

"Hey." The glaive called.

"Yes, Nyx." She whispered after breathing out a lengthy sigh and adjusting her posture to a lotus position.

"How old are you?" He blurted out the first thing to come to mind, anything to get rid of the sad-fest he caused.

The princess stared at him, mystified by the random question. "…Twenty-eight."

"Huh. You're four years younger than me." He scratched his head, genuinely surprised.

Her initial stuffy attitude and the way she carried herself made him think she was his age or older.

"Amazing that you can still pull off those pathetic puppy-eyes. I thought girls could only do that, not women."

She gasped.

"Shoot those at the right guy and you'll have them committing murder."

Imperatrix muttered in Farsi before speaking up in English. "I take it my eyes cannot move you then?"

Nyx took a moment to answer, grin stretching as he sat up. "Nope. Remember, I had a little sister. I'm immune to it."

The princess tilted her head at him, expression losing hostility and softening.

"What I'm not immune to is a good massage." The glaive sprawled his leg across Imperatrix's lap at her shift in mood. "Help a poor guy out, Princess."

"I swear you are a callow scoundrel! Were you not just insulting me and now you seek favors?!"

"It's not insulting if I'm stating facts. You were making the most miserable face."

"This is not how to win me over."

"Hey, you saw my leg! I'm not just asking to be cheeky." Nyx wiggled his leg, hooking his foot around her waist and pulling the woman closer. "If anything it's your fault it hurts! Take responsibility, Impera."

"My fault? How is it my fault?!" She glared heatedly at the emergence of lewdness on his face, tempted to toss his leg off and laugh at him writhing in pain.

"It's your fault for constantly being a tease. It wouldn't kill you to behave a little more demure...like good Luna."

Seriously, Imperatrix needed to be more conscious of exactly how riled she could leave him. All the times he saw her in scant amounts of clothes. The whiffs of her scent he caught when in close proximity. Her facial expressions and tone of voice that could make him heat up.

And don't even get him started on their arguing, which felt more like fiery flirting and could end with one of them getting physical. Imperatrix was usually the culprit.

The time she perched herself on top of him and fought to get him out the sleeping bag brought up a storm of dirty thoughts and had she stayed on him longer, she would've noticed how stimulated he was.

Damn, if she hadn't been under his skin like an endless itch since he first saw her in the backseat with Lunafreya!

Imperatrix looked great in that pastel-colored dress. He'd been distracted by it and her at the party…watching her flutter around like some ethereal moon sprite…

She...could pass as an incarnation of Selene, the Goddess of the Moon with her features.

"You fancy me a tease?" The princess's soft voice preceded her hands removing the brace and massaging Nyx's leg like he wanted.

The glaive groaned appreciatively at the gentle caresses.

"Believe me, if seduction were my intention, you would know and submit."

"This I gotta see then." He whistled suggestively, leaning back on his hands.

"Careful what you wish for, Nyx Ulric." She warned.

"Bring it, Impera. I'm dying to see what a stiff princess thinks is seductive."

"Again, you plow into things you should not." A slow smirk that could appear as an evil one, emerged on Imperatrix's face. "You will see your folly."

"Only time that happens is when I'm shit-faced drunk and as a previous bartender, I know how to handle liquor. So not often."

She scoffed and squeezed harder on his leg.

"Ah, ah! That hurts!" Nyx wrestled her hands off.

"I thought you liked pain? Were those not your words?" The princess let him hold her hands hostage and returned his glower with a sharp smile.

"If you wanna be kinky, fine." He shoved her with enough force to knock Imperatrix onto her back and loomed over the disoriented princes.

The door opening halted him from doing anything more. An animalistic yell later and the glaive had one female beneath him and one on his back.

Both gave him hell.

Tempesta clawed and beat at Nyx's back. "What did I say?! Keep your filthy, savage balls off Impera!"

"Ow, ow, damn! Why do you hit like a behemoth?!" Nyx grunted, strikes to his back and the boa-like constriction of legs around his waist sending him crashing into Imperatrix.

"No, no, Tempesta! Now you're hitting me!" The princess blocked some of the flying fists with her arms and moaned from how much it hurt.

"Whoops!" The fist fighter flew off Nyx, hands raised apologetically for accidentally striking royalty. "Sorry, Shitty Princess. Don't tell, Neb!"

Imperatrix frowned at the man laid out on top of her, his face resting above her breasts. At least his hands weren't touching her, but the feel of their pressed bodies was making her stomach queasy.

Where Ardyn was cold to touch, Nyx was electrifying. Her skin tingled where his cheek met her chest and breath tickled her neck.

"Are you going to move?" She ground out breathily, mortified that Nyx could most likely hear the frantic beating of her heart.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Tempesta broke my back." Imperatrix could feel the smile stretching out on his lips. "I don't think you want me to move either."

His hands moved closer to wrap around her body and she hurled him off before he could touch her.

Tempesta's foot slammed into the glaive's chest to keep him down and controlled. "Are we gonna use him as a punching bag? Please say yes."

Imperatrix flipped to her feet, crossing her arms and pretending to consider the idea. "He would not last more than three hits."

"I really need to change your opinion of me." Nyx grumbled to the girl pining him to ground. "I'm no one's punching bag!"

He slapped her leg off him and then kicked the other leg out from under her.

Tempesta laughed, regaining her footing in a flash and lunging for the glaive. "You're whatever I want you to be. That's what happens when you lose!"

"I'm especially not some kind of prison punk!"

The two traded blows, full-out trying to maim the other.

The glaive's long years of experienced combat were all that kept him apace with a smaller, faster, and healthier target. He wasn't losing substantially, but his crippled side wasn't making it easy for him to retaliate.

"Nyx, catch!" Imperatrix threw a training sword at him.

He caught it and shifted his attention between Tempesta cracking her fist and the princess testing other blades out. "Isn't this an unfair advantage?"

"Since when do Lucians care about that? Magic itself is an unfair advantage!" The fist fighter mocked him.

"In case you have noticed, kid…I don't have magic anymore!" He readied his stance, pride irked at the reminder of his greatest loss.

Losing the king's magic had been like losing a lung and breathing through an apparatus!

"Quit calling me 'kid', I'm twenty-four!"

Nyx fell out of his stance, expression going dumbfounded. He swiveled his head in Imperatrix's direction.

"She is and Nebula is thirty-two." She provided without prompting and smiled coyly. "Lift your blade, Nyx."

"Huh?"

A fist impacted his gut and he almost felt like collapsing and spitting up breakfast.

"Why do her punches hurt so much?!" Nyx shouted, baffled how a girl smaller than him packed hits as powerful as an Iron Giant.

And this was without the gauntlets!

"You will never best my Darling Tempesta in hand-to-hand combat, for not even I am capable. A sword is your best option." Imperatrix declared with abundant affection and pride.

Tempesta ate the praise up, posing arrogantly with her fists on her hips and chest puffed out.

If the helmet were gone the brat would probably be sending him a shit-eating grin.

"I'll do more than best this midget." Nyx preferred kukris since that was what he got used to as kingsglaive, but now it was time to return to his roots.

Every hunter worth his weight was skilled with a sword or a bow and arrow. He was of course, handy with both.

"I'm gonna rip out you tongue, Shit-head!"

The brawl went on for a good thirty minutes until Imperatrix joined the fray and it became a free-for-all. Though the females mostly ganged up on the male due to his never-ending egotism.

Fists and swords clashed rampantly till the arrival of the oracle. She screamed and ducked as sword flew past her head and clattered harmlessly into the hallway.

"There goes another one! Why do you keep kicking them out of my hands, Tempesta?" Imperatrix's shoulders heaved in exhaustion and she begrudgingly took a seat on the mat, wiping her curling bangs out of her face.

"Like I need you performing twenty hit combos!" She hollered, pointing to the red spots on her pale skin. "Look at all these bruises! I would be bleeding out if those swords had sharp edges."

"Then wear actual clothes instead of gyms shorts and a sports bra." The princess went into her lotus, calming her breathing and preparing to stretch out her worn body. "You have plenty of gear and you chose to wear the wrong things."

"Bah! I get sweaty in all that padding."

Tempesta marched over to a croaking Nyx, kicking him in the ribs and looking dead at Lunafreya. "You looking for your pansy-flower bodyguard, Lunar Temple?"

"Not…a pansy…" He argued weakly and received another kick in the side, going quiet.

"I came for another reason." The oracle clenched her fists, looking at the princess with determination.

"Hold on a sec…this is the first time I've seen her in something other than a dress and heels." Tempesta used the glaive as a stepping stone, laughing at his groans.

True, Lunafreya had changed from her nightgown into a shirt and track pants. Apparel that Imperatrix had originally bought for her to sleep in on cold nights, but became her outfit for morning runs and stretches.

"Wait, wait! The doll wants to train?"

A small amount of pink entered the oracle's cheeks from the fist fighter's astonishment. Lunafreya stepped further into the gym. "Yes, I do."

She needed to be ready for what would come next. Her mind and body would need to be tempered to hardened steel to complete her duty as oracle.

For Noctis.

For the Chosen King she would learn to fight.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Ah, there is so much on here... I cannot believe all this has piled up!" Imperatrix complained to no one, switching between reading the emails on her phone and going through documents on her laptop.

After a grueling training session where she worked herself and Tempesta to the bone, and gave a lighter, but still tough regiment to Lunafreya and Nyx, Imperatrix withdrew to her quarters for a shower.

Dressed down in more trousers and a halter top, the princess retrieved her laptop from the suitcase to work some more on all the missives she'd received from the homeland. Her private secretary took care of much, but there were still dozens of issues only solvable by a royal seal of approval.

Fund approvals for projects and relief efforts, most noticeably in Insomnia and other underdeveloped areas in Lucis.

Shame how much the continent had dwindled from the rise of the wall. Lucis used to have other major countries but their retreat left them to the mercy of the empire and daemons. Lestallum had pretty much become the last standing settlement.

Deployment authorizations from her lieutenant commander.

The Valeria Victrix was essentially sitting in the capital with nothing to do since their commander wasn't present to issue orders. Though, all the soldiers should've been eager to relax after being expelled to Persia with her. Her return for the peace treaty had been what brought them all back to Gralea.

Diplomatic disputes among nobles that required intervention. Or diplomats making entreaties towards her on behalf of their lieges.

When would these small lords and kings learn that they would not be inheriting the largest empire of their age?

While Imperatrix was prepared for an arranged marriage, it likely wasn't going to happen at this point for the simple fact that any man would try to overrule her, and the rats always tried to demand the crown matrimonial.

Intelligence reports from her cadet on Noctis's movements.

Those sightings were out of date, going back to when the prince tried to catch a ferry to Altissa, but couldn't due to the blockade. Nothing recent or useful for the moment…

So many emails and files she had to sift through!

"Gods above! It is like I am Ardyn, swamped in overdue paperwork." Imperatrix paused in her rapid typing.

She'd even gotten messages from the chancellor.

A sticky note had been attached to her laptop, cautioning of the mess awaiting her. The most obnoxious part of the note was the teasing smiley-face with its tongue stuck out, an artful representation of the emoticon.

Silly, silly Ardyn Izunia.

His second message had been an actual email. A detailed account of the construction and modifications on her sword and shield. The scientific jargon went completely over her head and she skipped to the most important part.

The bill.

The estimated final costs were enough to make Imperatrix curl up on the bed to cry and whine for five minutes.

Borealis and Australis would cost over a third of her annual income as crown princess!

By the time she scrolled down to the end of the email and her tears dried, the princess wanted to throw the laptop. Ardyn agreed to pay the costs in exchange for a token of her affection and as an apology for her playing scapegoat in his latest scheme.

"Damn him! He unhinges me even when not present." Imperatrix snatched up her phone, pulling up the message inventory for the chancellor and her irritation came to a standstill at the text he sent her this morning.

 _I can break. I can be attacked. I can be given. I can be kept. I can be crushed, yet I can be whole at the same time. What am I?_

Their usual game of a riddle a day. This one was easily the most cheesy and simplest one yet.

 _A heart._

She sent the reply and palmed her cheek, which she could feel warming with a blush. "How is it possible to love one as he? One that infuriates and endears…"

The princess laid down as memories of her taking him and him taking her swept away her focus.

Imperatrix had only ever been intimate with Ardyn and while she'd always warned him of her intentions for multiple spouses, he'd kept her attention for years and the princess never faced the conundrum of polyamory.

Nyx…was challenging the status quo.

The glaive came off as entirely domineering and narcissistic. How would their dynamic be if she were to...pursue…whatever stood between them?

She'd made all the approaches towards Ardyn.

For all his bravado and flattering, the man was incredibly subdued, almost fearful at times, to go beyond playfulness into actual secret courting. That behavior could have been attributed to him being older than her and being in service to her father, but it wasn't her station that unnerved him.

Ardyn treated everyone with differing levels of sarcastic respect. Royalty or commoner, rank meant little to him.

For some reason, the chancellor could occasionally look at her like she was a phantasm, reaching, but not touching the mirage and ending what only he could see.

The vibrating of her phone drew Imperatrix out of the reverie and she swiped for the call. Her hello was barely heard over Ardyn's dramatic swooning.

" _Oh, to hear your voice is to kindle my blackened soul, Musa! Congratulations on solving the riddle. Unfortunately, I won't be able to present a reward."_

"Are you…driving?" She could hear an old mixtape playing from his side and the whips of wind.

" _Why, indeed I am. Such a clever lady."_

"You are not supposed to be texting or taking calls while driving."

" _I'm the safest driver there is and I would never hurt the old girl."_ The next bit he rattled off airily. _"Never mind that a crash wouldn't kill me."_

Imperatrix rolled her eyes at Ardyn's obsession with his gaudy, red convertible. Men and their modes of transportation.

"You are a disturbing case of easily distracted. I would feel eased if you called me when you are not driving."

" _That'll be hours later…this is the first call that hasn't been business related or ignored. Don't deny me so soon, Dearest!"_

"No." The princess loudly said into the receiver, interrupting what would've been a long case of whining. "Call me later."

" _Impera!"_ He protested anyway.

"Ardyn."

" _Musa."_

"Ardyn!" Imperatrix was seconds away from abruptly ending the call.

He sighed. " _Ahh…you say it so lovely. Once more, if you would."_

"I'm hanging up!"

" _No, no, no! I'll get right to the point of my call and let you go."_

The music couldn't be heard as well and the wind dwindled.

"Thirty seconds." The princess signaled.

" _In regards to your answer. Mine is forever yours, Musa. Remember that."_

Imperatrix inhaled sharply at the clarity of his voice and how his words gave her a flutter. "I shall…safeguard it, Darling. And you have a piece of mine."

" _Only a piece?! Oh, bugger."_ Ardyn clicked his tongue.

"Yes, I have to save two other pieces."

" _Yes, yes. Your golden three as you've told me."_ He sighed and then broke into a laugh. _"I, at least get the biggest piece, yes?"_

"Hmm… I feel as though you should have the smallest…"

" _Ahh, my bleeding heart! I can hear no more of this. You are twisting the knife, Musa!"_

She laughed at him. "Safe travels, Darling Caesar."

His happy crooning was the last sound as the call ended.

The princess slipped on her shoes, secured her laptop under her arm and exited her room to head towards the bridge.

Nebula would have to fly for a bit more. Imperatrix had too much work to barrel through.

A month and some days was too much time away!

What else was probably falling apart in Gralea in her absence? According to Ardyn, her father was in confinement, which meant the senators were running wild…

Suddenly, she felt her throat closing up at the thought of Euphemia and Venus in danger from greedy, over-reaching parasites.

Pompeia and her mother had been lost to a riot. Two of her brothers had been taken and locked away in a tower, their fates unknown as no bodies could be found. Other little ones had died in the womb, others passed days after their births, others dead in infancy...

How many siblings would she lose in her lifetime?

Those poor, innocent, little children…

"Impera, what is wrong?" Nebula's easy drawl and firm grip on her shoulders, yanked the princess out of her memories.

"F-Forgive me…" Imperatrix calmed herself, seeing that he'd even removed his mask to assess her.

She patted the hand steadying her and smiled apologetically.

"I came to inform you that I will not be able to relieve you."

His freckled face eased back into lazy apathy and he let go of her shoulders to pat at her cheek. The patting was meant to be as affectionate as her gesture had been, but like Tempesta, Nebula didn't always realize that his idea of gentle was actually painful.

Still, Imperatrix grit her teeth, smiling as if there wasn't anything wrong, appreciative of the overture when she knew how Nebula struggled with expressing himself in a manner that wasn't violent.

Compared to the younger, the elder was lighter in strength. They both still had a long way to go on healthy expressions of emotions though.

But…Nebula was in his thirties. Should she just throw in the towel at this point? Let him be, since he didn't seem interested in her long years of instruction?

Tempesta wasn't a lost cause…she was still young enough to correct…

"I don't mind flying, saves me from hellish training." The gunman picked his helmet up and sat back in the pilot's seat.

He gazed at the mask, then at the princess, deciding to set it on the floor.

"Want to talk?"

Imperatrix giggled at how blank he kept his expression when asking the most hated question of the male race. She sat at the console meant for officers, setting up her laptop for more work.

"Did something happen?" He took a wild guess.

"What has not happened in Gralea and every other major territory?"

"Oh, princess dilemmas…not girl dilemmas." The gunman relaxed a bit at the less threatening option. "I tried to help out when we were there, but I only have so much authority as a royal retainer."

"I am sure you gave a great effort." The princess chuckled lowly.

Knowing the blonde man, he walked in the opposite direction of any trouble he saw. Nebula wasn't diligent unless motivated.

The princess wasn't sure which was worse, the gunman's lack of help outside of orders, or the fist fighter's generous assistance that often caused more trouble than help.

Like the time Imperatrix spent her day off overseeing a shipment of goods to a local orphanage and Tempesta's zealousness to arrive early culminated in her crashing the supply truck and they had to transport the items by hand.

She apparently loved torturing herself with complicated, exhausting, puzzling, human beings.

"The palace was not falling to pieces if that is what concerns you. Ardyn, for all his tiresome eccentrics, does his duty as Imperial Chancellor." Nebula twitched in his seat, desiring to light another cigarette, but resisted for the princess's sake.

He got away with it at the mansion because it was late, but Imperatrix had already been eyeing the spot she knew he kept his pack and lighter since yesterday. Chances were her insistence on doubling-up training was triggered by his unsubtle smoking.

Damnation! He should just off himself.

There was no way he was kicking his habit of smoking, he'd been doing it for too long! Even having the princess and his girl hounding him about lung cancer wasn't enough to make him abstain.

"Is it true that he is arranging for my sisters to go on progress?" Imperatrix blazed through a correspondence, electing to keep them short and simple, going as far as copying and pasting formats that could be reused on certain emails.

"Yes."

"Both of them?"

Furia, obviously wouldn't be included on a royal progress, as she married into the Fleuret family and they, for the time being, weren't considered royal. Also, someone had to remain in Tenebrae to maintain order with both Ravus and Lunafreya busy.

"Yes, both Euphemia and Venus are going. No word yet on if Iedolas plans to join." He gripped the wheel tighter to limit the shaking. "Tempy and I even had to give the run-down to the munchkin's new retainers."

"She is nine! Why is her safety being risked with this maneuver?!" Imperatrix slapped her hand on the desk.

"The baby princess will have her retainers and plenty of guards protecting her." Nebula kept a level-head at her lash out, already used to her smothering protectiveness.

"She is too young, her place is in the palace!"

"Ehh, you were not that much older for your first progress."

"That is… The circumstances are vastly different…" Imperatrix's stumbled over her words, displeasure receding.

She was twelve at the time and recently recovered from the unexpected attack on one of their villas.

There were no survivors but her, and if her father hadn't rushed to the villa after being informed of the sabotage…she would have passed into oblivion with the others.

It took a year for Imperatrix to recover physically and mentally from the assassination attempt that robbed her of functionality for a time, and permanently robbed her of a mother.

The princess still bore the scars from the bullets that tore through her mother's body and into her. Seventeen years had rendered them to nothing more than little blotches on her stomach now, scarcely evident unless you knew where to look.

"It was Father's will that all of Niflheim knew of my survival and his intention to promote me as Crown Princess." Imperatrix covered her eyes so that no tears fell. "There is no…staggering tragedy presiding over us…"

"Princess, do not take this the wrong way…" Nebula started carefully, switching his tone to a more deferential timbre to not set her off further. "Our current circumstances are even more tenuous than Empress Valeria's death. An enemy we have been fighting for centuries is no more. Now, more than ever, the Aldercapts have to be seen as force of power and stability."

She lowered her hands, vision blurry. "Neb…"

"Everyone needs to know who is in charge. Emperor Iedolas and after him, you, Your Highness."

"Is that the propaganda Ardyn fed you?" The princess sniffed, blinking away the mistiness. "What he has been broadcasting in council?"

"More or less." He shrugged. "He is more concerned about what the senators might due with this giant power vacuum that has opened. Change is frightening to mummies."

"His reasoning is as pragmatic as ever…" She crossed her arms, sneering at the sticky note as a replacement for Ardyn. "Yet, I am hardly ever soothed by his actions."

Nebula snorted. "Ehh, I could argue that."

Imperatrix stared him down until he faced her and the small, indiscernible smirk confirmed her suspicions.

"Ohoho, shall you tease me, Young Lord Besithia?"

This topic had been coming and Imperatrix wanted to get the ribbing out of the way.

"I will wait for Tempy to be present. She is better at pestering you." Nebula rolled his neck, smirk broadening as he stroked his goatee. "I will say that I won bet. The pest predicted you would not last three months without the man. I thought otherwise."

The princess groaned, quickly blushing at her weakness being laid bare. She muttered in Latin and Nebula laughed.

"She basically threw the bet. With us all being exiled and stationed in Persia, there was no way for either you to rekindle…well, actually… There would have been the best place to do so, Impera."

"Oh, so I should have risked discovery in my cousin's home?"

"It would have gotten him off your back about indulging in pleasures while in your mother's homeland. How many times did the shah whisk you off to the royal harem?"

"Too many! Ismail is as bad as Father in his younger days."

"Ehh, you are slowly getting there yourself, Your Highness."

"I thought there would be no teasing!" Imperatrix burned up at all the hinting.

Did Nebula see everything? Or was she absurdly obvious?!

The gunman laughed for a good minute, until his laughter became wheezes. Without delay, the princess was on her feet and hovering over him.

Nebula withdrew a flask of water and drank.

"Do you want me to take over?" She offered.

"I'm fine…finish...your work before you have an anxiety meltdown that I will have to talk you out of." He slouched in the chair, waving her off.

"Really, it is—"

"Impera, I am fine. I know how much it bothers you to be behind. Finish...whatever it is...princesses do."

Imperatrix relented, returning to her work area. "Let me know if you get tired."

She sent a text to Tempesta. Lunch would be her responsibility and a light meal it would be for everyone with the fist fighter in charge.

The younger Besithia was better suited to consuming food than preparing it. Tempesta was the only other person who could do it and she'd been trained at this point to stick to microwaveable and simple entrees.

The other dialogue boxes were still highlighted, unread by Imperatrix. She would read every one and listen to her voicemails after the work was completed.

Her mind wouldn't allow her to do otherwise.

The princesses were likely already aware of her survival from the freckle siblings departure from Gralea, and if they hadn't said anything, then Ardyn most certainly would have.

Furia might be the one out of the loop with how dated Tenebraen technology was. Ravus had seen her prior to the daemons and giant statue battle, but he wouldn't be able to reassure his wife that Imperatrix survived when he was delirious during the event.

"What were Venus's retainers like?" Imperatrix signed off on a replacement order for Tempesta's gauntlet and hesitated on a second order she wanted to make.

"They are both young. Fresh out of the academy. Paris and Helena, the valedictorian and salutatorian." Nebula untied his hair and fastened the scrunchie looser. Less throbbing for his head. "Ardyn essentially sniped them, severely pissing off the commander who scouted them for his legion."

The princess was caught between a groan and a giggle.

"They come highly recommended, a sight better than most the other retainers I keep in line." He tsked at the thought of his loopy, aggravating coworkers.

Aldercapts attracted the weirdest people.

"My heart is soothed…somewhat…" Imperatrix would add completing a background-check on her to-do list.

"The overprotectiveness is not necessary. The retainer position is coveted, Baby Princess will be taken care of by her Green Horns."

"I repeat, she is nine. I am going to fret!" The princess took the plunge, placing the second order and internally dying from how much money she was spending on people she had no obligations to.

Lunafreya and Nyx had better be on their best behaviors when their equipment arrived.

"I am avidly fighting the urge to redirect this ship to Gralea."

Imperatrix wasn't so stingy about money that she wouldn't spend it on people who needed it. Her pawning off the diadem for Nyx, a stranger and an enemy, proved that.

The princess could still cry over how penniless she ended up, in spite of her best efforts. How was it she was the most financially responsible out her family, yet the first princess was the one broke more often than not?!

Iedolas as the emperor, was naturally the richest man in all of Niflheim. He could spend millions on military ventures, building infrastructure, parties, national celebrations, and all the other innocuous trifles he and the chancellor got hung up on and not bat an eye.

Her father was the real financial drain on the treasury! It wasn't fair that he could be so carefree about money!

She needed to analyze her books again…or get the treasurer to explain for her. There wasn't any embezzling going on…but something didn't add up…

"I am done." Imperatrix announced firmly, closing the laptop before she got any more worked up.

She was just about to leave when her phone buzzed with a call.

"Hello?" The princess began with trepidation for the caller.

" _Why the hell didn't you tell me Lunar Temple couldn't cook?!"_ Tempesta screamed through the speaker, effectively making Imperatrix drop the phone, then clumsily catch it before it hit the floor.

"That sounds bad." Nebula stated after hearing his sister's booming and the alarms following her cursing.

"Is that the fire alarm?!" Imperatrix broke into a sprint for the kitchen.

" _I took my eyes off her for a minute to turn on the tv and she burns the goddam soup! How do you burn soup?!"_

Lunafreya's apologies could be heard in between more of the fist fighter's vulgar language.

"What is going on in there?!" The princess ran faster from the shrieks and Latin slurs coming from the other line.

" _The damn pot's spilled over."_ A pause. " _No, no! Don't do that!"_

A loud boom went off.

Imperatrix had tunnel vision by now and didn't pay heed to an unaware Nyx, who she barreled into and sent them crashing to the floor.

"D-Damn, Princess. Just jump me, why don't you?!" He grumbled. "You're taking the rough-play a little too far this early in the relationship."

"I don't have time for you!" She got right back to her feet, dashing to the destination and ignoring the glaive's calls.

When Imperatrix reached the kitchen and saw the mess, she stood immobile, catatonic to the world.

It very well looked like an explosion went off in the kitchen and the sprinklers were making everything worse. The dining area was spared most the damage, but splashes of food still got here and there.

Tempesta guiltily fidgeted in place, soaked and dirty from a direct hit from the soup pot.

"She did it, it's all her fault!" She pointed at an equally soaked and dirty Lunafreya.

The oracle had the good sense to keep her eyes glued to her feet like a child ready for a lecture.

"I will take full responsibility for this chaos." The girl dipped her head in a rare display of subservience. "The kitchen shall be cleaned spotless and I will make something else."

"Hells no! You can clean, but leave cooking out!" Tempesta jabbed her fingers into Lunafreya's side and the blonde jumped reflexively. "I shouldn't have let you touch jack-shit!"

Lunafreya's flinching at the jabbing made the fist fighter cock her head in confusion. She was hardly touching the doll. A fist would've been used on Nebula or Imperatrix for screw-ups.

"Stop pestering her, Tempesta." The princess ordered, recognizing the flighty behavior from the girl as one from a victim of continual aggression. She flicked her hand in the general direction of the vicinity. "I want it as it was this morning. Get to it!"

"Y-Yes, Your Highness!" The fist fighter agreed quickly, adding in an official salute at the no-nonsense aura wafting off Imperatrix.

She hated being lumped in with punishments, but Tempesta wouldn't dare complain when her superior looked like she was reaching the screw-off point.

Imperatrix gave the room one last dry, deadened, once-over and left the foolish blondes to their sentence.

"Yo, why the long face, Princess?" Nyx strolled up to her, gesturing to himself. "I'm the one who got mauled by you."

"See for yourself." Was all she deigned to give him and speed off.

"What's got her panties twisted?" The glaive scowled at being brushed off twice, and rudely at that.

He was tempted to go tell her off, but his curiosity won and he peeked into the room.

"Holy shit!"

Imperatrix laughed darkly as she heard him from further down the hall. This was supposed to be an easy day, but it felt more stressful than any other!

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"I don't know why I had it in my head that she could cook. Lesson learned." Tempesta mumbled with her fork thrusting offensively in Lunafreya's direction every couple of seconds.

"You can't compare our princess with _that_." Nebula chimed in with a slow roll of his neck towards the object of shame. "It's like comparing apples and mangos."

"Woah, woah, woah. What's with the unorthodox comparison?" Nyx interjected, scoffing at the gunman. "It's apples and oranges, isn't it?"

"While I am pleased you have a brain in that hollow skull, I do not require a correction." Nebula spun his knife and the glaive flinched, mentally preparing for a knife throw. "Apples are a universally liked fruit. Mangos are an acquired taste. I don't need to spell out which is which, do I?"

Tempesta went wild, smacking her hand on the table and laughing thunderously. Lunafreya bristled, entire face an angry red from the nonstop heckling she'd been subjected to since the group sat down for dinner.

Lunch had been skipped due to the mess and how long it took to clean it.

The oracle didn't know how much longer she could put up with this. She nearly missed the quiet meals of home that became the norm after their mother's death. Furia's presence then livened up the repasts, but nowhere near this level.

Lunafreya missed simpler times where she wasn't bullied at every turn!

"Oh, gods! Look at her puffing up like some kind of blowfish." Tempesta laughed so hard that breathing was becoming an issue.

"If only Setzer were one of the archaic naval ships, we could've made her walk the plank." Nebula laughed into his hand. "A real walk of shame."

"Okay, okay. You guys are going too hard on this." Nyx attempted to get the retainers to stop, but his own amusement was making it difficult.

His mom complained a lot about how awful Lunafreya was in the kitchen and he'd seen some of that unintentional klutziness when they camped. He wasn't expecting it too be that level of bad that she detonated soup.

Did Lunafreya lose control of her magic or something? That was all he could think of as an explanation, regardless of how little sense it made.

Girl was lucky she had servants to cook for her. The prince was doubly lucky…or would've been…if there was an Insomnia for them to settle down in.

Nyx's good mood ebbed.

"Hey, remember the time Old Man Iddy got Impera and Euphie to walk the plank because they poked a hole in the sail?" Tempesta doubled over at Imperatrix's exasperated expression. "She almost drowned when Euphs wouldn't stop clinging to her."

"Good lord! You are bringing up the most embarrassing memories." The princess rubbed her forehead, eyes stinging and dry from staring at a computer for so long.

"The emperor abandoned his daughters to the sea?!" Lunafreya dropped her silverware, invested in the story.

She knew the man was odious!

"Made them swim after the boat and wouldn't let any of us cast a line to help them." Nebula added to the story.

"I was in the worst state of pain and exhaustion afterwards." Imperatrix concluded the tale, gulping down her drink to overpower the memorable taste of seawater.

"It wouldn't have taken so long if you got rid of the barnacle. Euphemia was _literally_ dead-weight."

"What was I to do? Leave her in the ocean?" The princess rounded on the gunman. "And do not call her a barnacle!"

"You definitively should've left her. She would've eventually got the idea to swim on her own."

Disapproval radiated off Imperatrix. Nebula sipped at his drink with excessive indifference to the unspoken reprimand.

"Neb's stone-cold. If it were me, he would've let me drown." Tempesta accused.

"Without hesitation." He replied instantly.

The fist fighter choked.

"Nebula!" Imperatrix tenderly patted the top of the younger Besithia's helmet. "She is your sister!"

The elder shrugged like the fact meant little to him.

"Screw you then!" The fist fighter roared, lobbing her fork into where his hand was on the table.

He moved too fast and she missed.

"No seconds for you." Nebula decided after dislodging the fork and tossing it near Tempesta's plate.

"Hold on!" She back-tracked, hands waving in a flurry. "I didn't mean any of that."

"So…you admit you're a pest that's better off drowned?" Nebula drawled nonchalantly, as if he weren't rejecting his sister's existence.

"I...I-I…" Tempesta shook, in crisis mode, visor going from her plate to her brother in a loop. She came to a decision and her whole body sunk with bitter defeat. "I'm a pest that needs to be drowned."

Nebula's laughter was low and chilling.

"Wolf god, Fenrir and Moon Goddess, Selene, protect me." Nyx shuddered, scooting his chair away from the imperials. "Shit got dark, fast!"

"You are…a horrible brother…" Imperatrix shook her head, cradling Tempesta and whispering platitudes to the shell-shocked girl.

"Would a horrible brother feed his only sister seconds, like she wanted?" Nebula took the empty plate, heading for the kitchen.

The younger Besithia bounced out of the princess's arms, energy up and running like nothing was amiss. "Haha, I love, Neb."

Nyx turned to Lunafreya, seizing her shoulder and gazing at her solemnly.

"What is it?" She slightly shrunk from the intensity.

"Swear to me you won't pick up any habits from these psychopaths."

"What do you mean?"

"Swear it, kid!" He shook her for good measure. "Nothing from them!"

"Y-Yes, I will, if it gives you peace of mind."

Nyx breathed again, relieved. He mussed the oracle's hair, causing her ponytail to go crooked. "Good girl."

"What are you doing?!" Lunafreya blushed at the shot of nostalgic warmth she felt at the action and recoiled from the glaive.

Vaguely, she recalled her father, and possibly Regis, doing something similar.

"You really are a kid at heart." Nyx uttered mutedly, giving the girl a final rub on the head and then leaving her alone.

Less commotion went into the rest of dinner and once the table was cleared and dishes cleaned, talk of leisure activities among the imperials kept the two newcomers present instead of retiring to their rooms.

Tempesta was set on plugging her game system into the widescreen in the rec room. A plan Nebula concurred with if a shooting game was chosen.

Imperatrix had little interest in the activity and her retainer's taunts weren't changing her mind. The princess, admittedly wanted to catch up on her regular shows she'd missed and vehemently covered her ears when the freckle siblings tried to give spoilers.

Nyx was curious what kind of shows an imperial watched and was shocked at the mixup of genres Imperatrix liked. Three of the shows were popular series that he followed with…well…only Libertus would be watching them now.

That is…if Galahd got better reception. His home was still in the process of upgrading old technology after the attack.

Lunafreya didn't know how a game station worked and was eager to have that mystery solved. Noctis had written many entries detailing the latest games or ones he played at the arcade.

Sadly, _Kings Knight_ wasn't something the Besithia siblings possessed or were interested in. They did inform her that it was mobile game she could download.

Again, she was at a loss.

A phone was something Lunafreya never owned and the one installed in the manor was very old with a rotary dial and really only worked with the other phone systems in Tenebrae.

Her first venture with video games would be through military warfare and then mortal combat. The selection of shooting games and fighting games made the oracle ponder if imperials ever tired of violence.

With a vote of three, video games won.

The recreation room vibrated with the deafening noise of gunfire, gloating, and cursing.

Tempesta and Lunafreya were deeply immersed in the game, one shrieking gleefully from all their kills, and one shrieking dejectedly from how many times she got killed.

Nebula was noiseless as ever, destroying everyone online and putting his teammates to shame without a sweat.

Nyx was so-so, doing a good job of staying alive and helping out the ever-struggling oracle, costing him a high score.

Imperatrix sat alone on the couch, mindlessly observing four adults hunched together on the floor with their eyes trained on the tv, regressing to infancy over a video game. She didn't see the fun in the activity, but to each their own.

At least for once the toxic mixture of Nephilim, Lucian, and Tenebraen had become cohesive.

After an hour of giggling to herself over the four's hijinks, Imperatrix excused herself to handle a matter she'd been putting off. In the security of her room, the princess unlocked her phone, reading every missed message and listening to all the voicemails.

All of her sisters had responded in differing manners of worry and the reminder of their unconditional love gave Imperatrix the courage she needed to check the final selection in her voice mailbox. She clicked on the one dating back to the morning of the fall and held the phone to her ear with both hands for fear of her shaking causing the phone to slip.

" _My dear, sweet, child, who is the most beloved and treasured…forgive me…"_ The raspy gravel of her father began and the princess choked back a wail. _"As a father I have failed you. For what parent would betray their child, the very one that first gave them the privilege and honor of parenthood?!"_

He sighed, voice cracking with his age and weariness.

" _Oh, but if I could control time…I would turn back our clocks to the time of Papa and his precious Janan…"_

A pause in the speech and Imperatrix let out the sob she'd been withholding.

Janan, the name her mother gifted her, but could not be her official name as Gralean-born royalty. Thus, the Persian name was a secret among the princess and her parents. An affectionate hug and kiss wrapped up in a name, the last of those that she would receive from a woman long gone.

How strange it was that an abstract thing such as a name could fill her with so much love. Musa and Janan, two monikers cherished by her…

" _Time, however, is ever flowing, ever moving. A river which I cannot fight."_ She sniffed, wiping her eyes clean once the speech resumed. _"This day I fail as a father so that I may prevail as an emperor. One life, your life, in exchange for an end…a conclusive end to a war we have been fighting for too long! Understand that I have not made this choice lightly."_

A lengthy pause went by and Imperatrix checked the screen to see if the message was over. A choked, anguished sob answered her.

" _You are my daughter…I have loved you from the moment you swelled inside Valeria…but I must ensure the survival of our nation. With my dying breath, I shall see Niflheim victorious! Veni, vidi, vici, my child."_

The phone then announced the end of the message and asked if she wanted to delete it. Imperatrix couldn't bring herself to erase it.

The princess set the mobile device down.

Her tears came full-force as she broke down where no one could see how pathetic and weak Imperatrix could be.

Recalling the day before the fall, her father's odd looks and distance towards her made sense now. At the party, he'd been regretful, mouthing "forgive me" to her when Ardyn escorted her away.

She was so foolish! Everything about the peace treaty and their trip to Insomnia had been suspicious, but Imperatrix hadn't said anything.

The princess was just so buoyant to be back by his side, back in his favor after he banished her from court for speaking out too many times against his plans. She was just so desperate to once again be his precious pearl that she'd have gone along with almost anything he asked.

What was wrong with her?

"Oh, Father…you are as perplexing as Ardyn…" Imperatrix curled in on herself, overwhelmed with exhaustion for the hurdles she went through on a daily basis.

Time, the devourer of all. Iedolas had it right.

The princess wished to rewind it as well, to stay submerged in those pockets of time where she knew more joy than heartbreak.

Imperatrix trembled in the wake of her expulsion of tears, picking up her phone once more and dialing for Furia. A call that would abate a sister's worry and a friend's. She'd be able to get an update on Ravus's condition and share it with Lunafreya.

Regrettably, the call went to voicemail. It was late, the pinkette probably asleep like a normal person.

She tried the next sister and Euphemia picked up after three rings.

" _Hello?"_

"Euphie!" Imperatrix exclaimed mirthfully with a little bit of a sniffle.

" _Are you a ghost?"_ The third princess gasped. A repeated creaking noise could be heard in the background and Euphemia's voice came out breathy. _"I am speaking to the beyond! Oh, Great Etro, I knew you had not left us."_

"E-Euphie, what are you talking about? Are you jumping on your bed again?" Imperatrix caressed her pounding head. "You must stop before you fall off the bed."

This was not what she foresaw as their conversation.

" _Spirit, you speak as my eldest sister speaks, commanding and exasperated. You even knew what I was doing, extraordinary!"_ The creaking halted and Euphemia gasped louder. _"Are you in the room with me?!"_

"No, Euphie. And I am your sister, not a spirit."

" _Impossible."_

"Why is it impossible?"

" _My sister died in Insomnia and Papa weeps for it. He would stop if Big Sister were alive."_

The simple logic stole Imperatrix's breath with a distinct kick to the chest.

The creaking noise resumed.

" _You are a spirit."_ The third princess recited with confidence.

She took a deep breath and thought up a response that would satisfy the quirky girl. "If I am sprit, then how am I calling you? Why would I not appear before you?"

Something crashed.

"Euphie?! Are you okay? Did you fall off the bed?!"

" _Impera?"_ Euphemia's dreamy voice wavered uncertainly.

"Yes, Darling. It is me." Imperatrix waited patiently for whatever odd bit came next.

" _You are…not a spirit? You are…Big Sister?"_

"No, I am not a spirit. Yes, I am your sister." She restated for the second time. "I have not left you, Prima Ballerina."

" _Impera, it is you!"_ The third princess yelled.

The line became littered with noises and other shouting.

"Are you running in the hallways? Be careful not to bump into anything." Imperatrix felt pity on behalf of the servants who would have to clean up the knocked over furniture and ornaments.

It was a mystery how Euphemia could be graceful when dancing and uncoordinated in every other instance.

" _Venus, Venus! Venven, wake up!"_ She demanded, followed by a high-pitched scream. _"No, you guards must get out. Princesses only!"_

Imperatrix didn't know how much of her soul still presided in her body with how much sighing she'd done in one day.

" _Ah, Euphie, quit it!"_ Venus cried.

" _Here, here. It is Big Sister!"_

The line was loud with things shuffling around, accompanied with girlish wails.

" _Ow! Papa said no hitting!"_

" _Stop moving then, you have to hold the phone like this."_

" _Papa!"_

" _Big Sister is more important right now!"_

" _No, go away!"_

"Girls, girls, it is late! You cannot make such a racket." Imperatrix spoke over their tussling.

" _I-I heard…Impera?"_ Venus whimpered timidly. _"B-But how?"_

" _She came back from the dead."_ Euphemia supplied.

"I did not. I am alive and well." Imperatrix corrected immediately.

" _She came back from the dead!"_ The third princess parroted again as if not hearing her sister.

" _Amazing. Bis Sister is magical!"_

"Euphie, stop filling Venus's head with falsities. No one can conquer death." The princess could imagine the adorable, bright-eyed expression of her youngest sibling and loathe as she was to stomp on the child's rose-view of her, Imperatrix had to keep Venus grounded to reality.

One Euphemia was enough…

" _The Lucians can!"_ The third princess argued. _"Papa told us how those statues of the old kings came to life."_

" _Did they really, Impera? Papa's not making it up, is he?!"_ Venus rushed out in one breath.

Imperatrix faltered, unsure if she should tell a child of what transpired in the crown city.

" _Tell us, tell us everything about the city that never sleeps."_ Euphemia panted excitedly. _"Maybe Etro stole their souls and they are all the walking dead!"_

"Where do you get these ideas?" The princess muttered.

" _Please tell us, Impera."_ Venus implored.

"Very well, shall this tale be your bedtime story?"

Imperatrix heard rustling of bedsheets and some arguing over who got the soft pillow, but the sisters settled down.

" _We're ready, Big Sister."_ The fourth princess whispered.

So began the tale of a hopeful peace treaty to end all wars and the fallout of such hopes when mortals were tethered to their vices. Imperatrix didn't embellish, explaining both sides, as there was no good or evil like most fantastical stories asserted, only people with very human desires. Humans with the ability to affect an entire world with their actions.

The tale went on until the younger siblings were snoring on the line and the princess terminated the call.

Feeling marginally better, she bathed and changed into nightclothes, turning out the lights and cocooning herself in blankets and pillows.

The gentle hum of the ship was the only noise in the room and she squirmed with how empty and bereft the bed felt with one person.

An unintentional objection filtered through her mind. He hadn't called her back like she wanted...

"How can I possibly be this heartsick?!" Imperatrix snarled, losing count of how much tossing and turning she'd done in an effort to fall asleep. "Pathetic. Absolutely, pathetic!"

Was she so childish as to need a companion to fall asleep? Worse, that she craved the feeling of being held by Ardyn!

"I am not calling him." She told herself.

Her mind raced with thoughts of how his larger frame could encase her in a manner that embarrassingly…made her feel…

"Why?!" The princess dug her face into the pillow.

She felt so safe and loved in those arms.

The coldness of his skin made her shiver, and on truly freezing nights it was unbearable to lie bare against him. In spite of that inconvenience, Imperatrix still enjoyed laying on top of him, ear pressed to his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and entwining their hands for him to pepper with doting kisses.

In less than three days Ardyn ruined her.

Maybe she was spoiled...

"How am I to sleep again without all that?" Her eyes flickered to the mobile device laying a few inches away.

Hearing his voice might soothe this unbearable ache inside her…

She reached out for the phone, but then drew back her hand when the door opened.

"Impera…Neb kicked me out…" Tempesta announced herself sleepily, tumbling face-first into the bed and rolling into the princess.

Imperatrix said nothing as blonde spikes poked her in the face and purring snores assaulted her ears.

"I suppose this works too…" She sighed, fondly combing through the erratic hair of her retainer.

Rather than an imp, it was a cat curled around her. Imperatrix would be dealing with tender ribs in the morning.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Why does it have to be so hot?" The fist fighter whined, unzipping more of her uniform and fanning herself.

"Tempesta, must you?" Imperatrix frowned reprovingly at her retainer shucking off the top half of her uniform and tying it around her waist.

If it were just the three of them, the princess wouldn't be bothered with the girl walking around in her skimpy bra.

Nyx's presence, however, complicated matters.

"Impera, c'mon, even you're sweating bullets. This heat and this trail are no joke!" She countered, turning to walk backwards with her arms folded behind her helmet. "I'm not showing anything the sav hasn't seen."

"You're right on that account." Nyx sneered at the shortened slur Tempesta created. "But most of them had more to show than you."

The short-stack might be twenty-four, but compared to Lunafreya and Imperatrix, she was lacking in the assets department. He finally figured out that the girl had extra padding in her suit to make her body look more mature than it was.

"Why you!"

Tempesta was prevented from attacking by Imperatrix and Nebula looping their arms into hers and carrying her backwards, or forwards for them.

"It is too hot for this, shut up and walk." Nebula ordered bitingly.

He was in worse shape than the female imperials since his uniform covered every inch of skin and he refused to shed any layers. It wasn't a matter of him being shy, but rather not wanting to be boggled down by anything other his guns.

The fist fighter growled once dropped by her captors and turned her back on Nyx. "Lucky man. I'll save my energy for the hike."

What a hike it was with the sun barring down, on top of the natural heat of the meteor.

Per the oracle's request, the group stopped at the Disc of Cauthess.

Initially, Lunafreya wanted to complete her pilgrimage alone. Nyx and Imperatrix vetoed that in quick sync for fear of her safety, which got a smirk and joke about co-parenting out of the glaive and a blush out of the princess.

The Besithia sibling were of the shared mind to let the girl go in alone. Neither wanted to walk miles through sweltering heat waves, rocky, uneven land, and possibly fight stray monsters. For all those reasons "the parents" decreed everybody go with weapons and supplies.

The imperials were already well-equipped and didn't need weapons.

Nebula was apprehensive about showing the intruders were the real metal was stashed on the airship.

What was stopping either glaive or oracle from sneaking into the storeroom, picking a murder weapon and going to town on them? The princess could be too trusting for his tastes.

Nyx grumbled about trading out his father's bow, but without arrows it was useless. He chose two short swords to satisfy his ambidextrous needs.

Lunafreya wanted a lance, but Imperatrix put her foot down on that score, giving the novice combatant a quarterstaff. The girl was standoffish for the cosseting, but took what she could get when the princess leveled an impatient look her way.

"What is this?" Imperatrix circled the tomb jutting out of the ground in fascination.

It was a masterful rendition of what could only be a dead king.

"I…don't like the feel of that…" Tempesta for once wasn't hopping around the princess, jumping on her back to see what she was ogling.

No.

The fist fighter stayed as far away as she could while still being in range to protect Imperatrix from any surprises. The tomb made her skin itch and a faint clamor came to life in her head.

"Neither do I." Nebula took a step closer to his sister at her fidgeting and gripping her helmet.

He wasn't as affected as her. He could feel traces of magic coming from the thing…it felt similar to Lunafreya's and it made him ill.

"You must not disturb the tomb!" The oracle cried in alarm at recognizing what they'd stumbled on.

She had to protect it for Noctis!

Imperatrix recoiled from the sword at the girl's holler.

"Would you look at that. It's The Mystic." Nyx bent by the tomb, blinking when he mistakenly thought he saw a glimmering, silver sword in place of the clay model held by the king.

He winced as pain surged from his head to his arm.

"What's…it doing here?"

"I would say it is a replica, but the craftsmanship proves otherwise." The princess took note of the glaive's pain, and offered her hand to Nyx.

He rose with her help.

"Regardless, as Lunafreya said, we should not disturb the dead."

The glaive stumbled for a moment, mind muddled as he envisioned blue flames crawling up his arm. Imperatrix steadied Nyx, calling for him as he remained transfixed with his arm.

"I'm good." He scratched at his head and stepped away from the tomb.

The princess didn't believe him, but she let it go, following after him towards her retainers.

Lunafreya sighed in relief as they left.

She gave the resting king a small smile. "Just a while longer and your descendant shall claim his birthright. May you watch over him, Founder King…"

A call for her and the oracle wiped at her watery eyes, rushing after her companions.

The rest of the journey to the center of the meteor proved uneventful. There weren't any monsters along the trail, just debris occasionally impeding their path. Those were taken care of by Nebula firing a high-powered laser and clearing the path.

Whether it was the fact the site was the resting place of the Archaean or if the area wasn't sustainable for wildlife, no one complained about their weapons being needless for combat.

The group broke for a quick respite once they were high enough that breathing was becoming taxing and two of their members were gasping for air.

Lunafreya tried not to guzzle all her water, but her lungs were on fire and her heart racing. She consumed a large portion of it, feeling highly inept once satisfied.

The others were only slightly winded compared to her.

Tempesta and Imperatrix weren't all that fazed from exertion, just huffing from perspiration. Nebula was hunched against the wall, ignoring his sister's taunts about his old age and how out of shape he was if this trek was making him cough.

Nyx was the second worse for wear, grasping at his leg and breathing in a forced, timed fashion.

"I can't believe we're doing all this so she can pray at an altar. She can do that anywhere!" The fist fighter kicked at the ground, creating a small cloud of dirt.

"Do not be disrespectful. What you view as trivial is sacred to another." Imperatrix chided.

She grunted in acknowledgment, mumbling no more protests.

"You know, I'm shocked you're not a little more blasphemous, considering the empire's track record with gods." Nyx remarked bluntly, tensing when Nebula looked in his vicinity.

"You either have no sense of self-preservation, or no filter, Glaive." The gunman straightened, posture not yet hostile.

Nyx wasn't falling for it, he'd be ready for the gunshot.

"It was one god…and I dare not invoke more wrath by acting a heretic." Imperatrix experienced a shiver despite the zero sense it made when she was dying of heatstroke.

The Glacian's towering, blue figure blanketed in a blizzard came to mind.

"You guys really don't know why she attacked?"

"If you listen to the anti-royal parties they'll say the Great Astral of Ice wished to destroy Niflheim because of all the scandalous depravities of the Aldercapts." Nebula provided with a tilt of his head.

"Are you making a joke? I can't tell with the mask." Nyx deadpanned and then gave Imperatrix his attention. "Gimme something better."

She sent a dirty look at her retainer first for the dig on her family and then shook her head. "It pains me to say...but we truly do not know. Our trusted bridge-between-gods-and-mortals could not supply an explanation."

Eyes and visors moved to Lunafreya, who didn't falter at the stares.

"My answer remains the same. The Goddess, Shiva spoke not a word to me of the event."

"All that matters is there shall not be another attack of that magnitude." The princess let the matter drop, readjusting the latches for her sword. "Are we ready to move?"

Several nods and the journey continued.

The peak wasn't much further and the giant meteor loomed before them, blocking out a chunk of the sky and sun from their position. Lunafreya alone approached the Stonehenge marking holy ground. Her body appeared to glow and the stones illuminated in colors of red and gold in reaction to the oracle.

"Am I allowed to record this? Is that too blasphemous?" Tempesta awed at the light display, phone already out and recording. "It's like a video game!"

"What is sacrilegious is your appearance. Cover up!" Imperatrix didn't wait for compliance, untying the girl's suit and hastening to redress the fist fighter.

"Ack, Shitty Princes! You're messing up my video!"

"Cursing on holy ground is sinful." Nebula crossed his arms, hand resting on a gun strapped beneath his arm.

"Really?! I got enough bad lu—" Tempesta groaned at the zipper getting caught on her skin.

"Shush, you!" Imperatrix wrangled with the girl to make her look appropriate.

"Aren't you awestruck? Impera and the brat were." Nyx inched closer to the gunman.

He was looking a little too trigger-happy with his tapping on a gun for the glaive's comfort.

"Why should I be? I see unnatural phenomenon every day at night." He angled his head to have a view of both oracle and glaive. "I am more perturbed by what follows."

At the middle of the circle, Lunafreya knelt, setting her staff down to bow her head in prayer.

"Oh, Divine Landforger, Astral of the Earth. Heed my call, for I am the blood of the first oracle." She felt her magic weaving around her, warmth and light filling her senses, and the melody of awakening blossomed in her heart.

The oracle sung in the ancient language of the gods, an old hymn of gratitude, of reverence for The Six. One of the few songs Lunafreya learned from her mother.

So beautiful and lifting were the sweet musical notes and shimmering flecks of magic, the enraptured audience didn't notice the slight quakes in the ground.

Lunafreya concluded her song and slowly opened one eye, then the other at the silence. She glanced about in confusion.

"W-Why? Why do you not answer me?"

No response came, but the pulsations in the stones alleviated some of her lingering sense of failure. The oracle rose up, another song tickling the back of her mind, but she was reluctant to use the incomplete hymn.

She couldn't fail. Noctis's destiny hinged on her completing her duty!

"Please, heed me, Great Archaean! Our Chosen King requires your blessings!"

Imperatrix and Nyx shared a worried grimace at how ludicrous the oracle sounded and how distressed she was becoming for not receiving any divine messages. Neither were able to approach her from the suddenness of the ground shaking.

"Oh, shit! What's going on?!" Tempesta panicked, crouching to the ground like a frenzied cat with bristled fur.

"We should have never come here!" Nebula groused, wobbling in place as the shaking increased.

"Lunafreya!" Imperatrix shouted, breaking into a run towards the Stonehenge, where the girl fell to her knees. "Get away from the edge!"

The oracle couldn't hear her from the crescendoing racket and looked around fearfully.

"Impera, look out!"

The princess had no opportunity to figure out who the shouter was or what danger was near, grunting as she hit the ground with a body on top of her.

"You've got to be kidding me." Imperatrix recognized the buckled leather material as Nyx's kingsglaive uniform and would've elbowed him for tackling her and leaving Lunafreya to danger, were it not for his next bellow. "What the hell is that?!"

She nudged him up, practically doing a sit-up with him on top of her to see what the problem was.

Words failed her.

From the ground, creatures were forming into some kind of rock-entity. One such creature had been what Nyx saved her from as she spotted a cluster of lumpy, glowing rocks merging together to reform.

"The hell? This is like Insomnia all over, except the statues ain't on our side!" The glaive leaped to his feet, yanking Imperatrix up.

"Statues? These aberrations look more like golems out some bedtime fable!" She spun, back pressing against Nyx's as they became surrounded and drawing her saber.

"Statues, golems…either way, they want to kill us." He twirled the short swords into a backwards grip. "It's you and me, Princess. Let's see who reaches Lunafreya first, Mom or Dad?"

"By the gods! You never stop, do you?!"

"Not with dames likes you."

The princess and glaive readied for battle.


	12. Chapter 12

Question to the readers, should I shorten these chapters or do you all prefer them as is? These chapters are ridiculously long and a beast to edit.

 **French**

 **Petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid** \- Little by little, the bird makes its nest. A proverb meaning patience and perseverance in any kind of situation, mostly in the process of something not yet accomplished.

 **Latin**

 **Fututus et mori in igni** \- Fu** off and die in a fire.

 **Vincit qui se vincit** \- He conquers who conquers himself.

 **Puer Regem** \- Young/baby king.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"I am not appreciating the throwback to Insomnia!" Nyx roared, struggling to hold onto Imperatrix's hand. She in turn held Lunafreya close.

The three dangled precariously from the cliff while the Besithia siblings fought off the horde of golems. To top it all off, everything was still shaking with a noise level to rupture human ears.

"Nyx!" The princess screamed fearfully when her gloved hand began slipping from his grasp.

"No, no, no!" He panted, shaking from a last ditch effort to lift the females, but wasn't strong enough for the effort and they continued slipping form his hold.

The glaive's eyes shot open, panic written all over his face and unhidden from those beneath him.

Imperatrix's lighter blue eyes reflected Nyx's fear, for their was no magic, no warping to save them. Her expression twisted into grim understanding and a resigned answer on the tip of her lips till something else demanded attention.

"Nyx, look out!"

A golem threw a flaming rock near them, destroying the area and sending all three plummeting. Separation in a flurry of lava, rocks, and screams befell them.

As the glaive disappeared from view, the princess cradled the oracle to her chest, safeguarding the girl form rocks. She winced from the dagger-like fissures hitting her and whimpered from some of them searing into her skin due to the heated magma coating them.

"Imperatrix!" Lunafreya bawled at seeing how hurt the woman was becoming. She sucked in a breath at the large, blazing, stone on course for smashing them to dust.

"Brace yourself, Lunafreya!" The princess warned moments before spinning them and they hit the ground with Imperatrix taking the brute of the impact.

She saw dots in her vision, searing pain in her spine, and laid motionless. The threat of crushing by blazed stone didn't register for her muddled mind.

The oracle tried to move Imperatrix in time, but the large projectile was coming too fast. Her breath was lost in a painful tug at the realization of the inevitable.

Time slowed.

Was she going to die? This wasn't…this couldn't be the end of her journey.

She still had four covenants to forge!

Noctis.

The prince was depending on her to light the way for him. A lost lamb in need of shepherding.

How would he face his destiny if she failed here?!

"I-I am…the oracle…" Lunafreya mumbled, unbidden tears filling her eyes at how much closer death came. It was hot and choking. "I cannot fail…"

She scooted back, dragging the princess with her.

Death cared not, it was still coming, hotter and faster.

How could she have failed? All that studying and practicing for naught...

She was a sham of a oracle, unable to rouse the Astral and do her duty. If only her mother were here. She could've forged the covenant.

Look where arrogance brought the overreaching Lunafreya Nox Fleuret…

" _Luna."_ A whisper that shook the aforementioned person into looking around.

Rather than slow, everything ceased to move, trapped in a moment of picturesque destruction. A gentle humming flooded Lunafreya's senses, filling her with a forgotten tenderness.

This presence…

"M-Mother?"

Pieces of light floated around her, forming into the sylleblossoms of Tenebrae. The scenery changed from cavernous to the greenery of home, flowers dancing, stars twinkling, and sweetness drifting in the wind.

A likeness to one of the oracle's visions.

" _Petit a petit, l'oiseau fait son nid."_ A voice flowed with the wind.

"It is you, Mother!" Lunafreya looked around, expecting to see Sylva Nox Fleuret, but she and the unconscious Imperatrix were the only ones present.

" _Remember, my child. Remember the song."_

The hymn from the visions rippled from the sylleblossoms.

"Was it you who sent me those visions? Not Titan or Pryna?" The oracle posed to the air. "What is this song?"

" _Your inheritance, child of light."_

"What do you mean?"

No answer came, only the pressing of the melody from both wind and bloom.

Out of options, she took a deep breath. Magic swirled around her and unsurely, Lunafreya sang the melody gifted by a phantom.

Imperatrix bolted up, vision swimming and heart racing. Blinking the world into focus, she gasped at the golden dome shielding her and the oracle from deadly debris that disintegrated into harmless tricks of light upon contact with the magical sphere.

"What in the world?!" The princess scrambled to her feet, tilting slightly from her persisting disorientation. "How are you doing this?"

Lunafreya was too immersed in singing to notice the question; kneeled in the center of chaos, gold magic vibrating off her.

The ground began shaking with the arrival of golems.

"Oh, no. No, no!" Imperatrix drew her sword, defensive position ready. "Damn it all! If I but possessed Borealis!"

Loqi's saber was powerful against daemons and adequate against the golems. The light attribute wasn't as effective when pit with earth and fire.

Borealis held functions as a magitek weapon that allowed it to switch attributes. Lightning, Fire, water, and light were all settings that the princess could transition between to combat any enemy: human, daemon, or monster.

What she wouldn't give to have that shimmering weapon!

Or, at the very least, her shield!

Australis could render elemental damage harmless. A useful defense in a fight with magical creatures sent by gods!

"You will not defeat me!" Imperatrix declared, fending off a thrash and beheading the golem. She then spun from another attempting to cuff her and flipped evasively from a flaming rock.

They were all coming at her relentlessly and fatal blows didn't appear to work, the creatures would reform and renew the battle.

"Fututus et mori in igni!" The princess shouted in absolute frustration after falling to the ground from a projectile catching her on the arm.

Her arm sizzled from the skin being seared off. The pink, purple, and black coloring almost made Imperatrix wretch from the unfortunate reminder it brought forth of Ravus's cauterized stump.

"I will not fall here!" She reclaimed her sword and got up.

The battle went on, golems remodeling themselves after every defeat and pushing the princess to the limit, defending herself and the enraptured oracle.

Aggravating as Lunafreya's disconnect was, Imperatrix sucked it up since the singing showed signs of conducting the magic. The barrier was still protecting them from the worst of the aerial damage.

Something about the song was different now compared to the obsessive fine-tuning it went through. Was it like the Lucian's magic?

The princess coughed after rolling from the descending foot. As she rose clumsily, Imperatrix noted how the golems were slowing in their assault. The behavior was in line with the oracle's pronounced singing and brightening magic.

Whatever Lunafreya was doing was leading to something big…that was usually how bridges of songs worked.

"Once more then. My blade will cut you all down!" Pain muted, the princess angled her burned arm behind her back, adopting a traditional stance for sabers.

She may be down an arm, but the enemies were weaker, slower, more prone to fragmenting from fatal strikes. Victory wasn't impossible.

Three down and seven more still loomed before Imperatrix.

"Heads up!"

Nyx and Nebula passed through the dome on a wire, both shooting at the golems surrounding their grounded companions. She laughed unbelievably at their impeccably timing.

"Don't forget about me!"

Like a storm, Tempesta rained down on the chaos, all mad laughter as her gauntlet made impact with the ground, torrents of air gushing out and sending the enemies flying.

"Take that bitches!" The fist fighter did a little jig.

The glaive let go of the wire once a safe distance above, tucking and rolling as he hit the floor. Then he jumped to his feet, ungracefully stopping right before Imperatrix.

"Did you call for a hero, Princess?" He grinned roguishly with a wink as he brushed his hair back.

She smiled for once at the posturing and her hand came up to touch his cheek. "Nyx, you are alive!"

"You should know by now it'll take more than a crazy fall to kill me, baby." The glaive leaned into the caress and had another flirtatious line ready till he spotted the burn. "Holy shit, that looks horrible!"

"Will you two get in the game?! We're still fighting for our lives here!" Tempesta hollered, alternating between punching and kicking her foes, powerful gusts bursting from each hit.

"Right." Imperatrix coughed, removing her hand from Nyx's face. "Lunafreya needs to be protected. I believe her song is weakening the golems…and holding the barrier…"

" _Leave that me."_ Nebula announced over the comm.

The gunman hit a button on his belt, pulley lifting him above the battlefield. He expertly sniped any foe that got past the ground fighters and neared the oracle. Though…he contemplated letting some of them through.

The doll was full of shit.

Innocent face be damned! Lunafreya was as much a viper as any other human.

The girl probably lured them here to kill them. Nephilim were people of science, not magic, she could've fed them any kind of lie and they would've had to take it face-value. None of them could grasp the magic of an oracle.

Lunafreya could've summoned the monsters with that "prayer" of hers, leading to the landslide. Nebula wouldn't put it past the imperial-hater.

He was sure she was behind the other attack…

"One thing after another!" The gunman hissed through the modulator, hefting up his sniper rifle and flipping the switch for homing beams to take out the flaming missiles.

More earthquakes, which meant more falling debris, less stability for his wire, lower visibility, and less accuracy with the swaying. With any luck, the section the hook was lodged in wouldn't be disturbed. A fall from his height would be disastrous.

" _Impera, Impera can you hear me?!"_ The gunman called.

Foe overcome, the princess looked up.

" _What is it, Nebula?"_ She panted, marginally tipping over as the ground rumbled.

" _We need to evacuate! Something…I don't know what. Something is making my sensors go off! There's too much magical output in the area!"_ His eyes were bombarded with information and warnings. He hit the switch on the pulley to lower himself to retrieve his sister and princess.

" _It couldn't possibly be a daemon. There's no miasma and it's daylight hours!"_

The gunman rolled his neck at her arguing. _"Whatever's coming is dangerous and I'm getting you out!"_

 _"Nebula, wait!"_

All at once the vibrations rendered movement impossible for the group below and they fell, at the mercy of the earth. The wire snapped and Nebula joined the others, hitting land with a pronounced impact.

An earth shattering bellow assaulted everyone's ears, leaving them squirming and crying out in pain. Only one could discern the sounds and her eyes widened at the gradual, gigantic rise of the Archaean.

"Great Titan!" Lunafreya cowered, conscious of how small and fragile she was under the imposing figure holding the weight of a meteor.

A glowing red eye honed in on the oracle, scorching her flesh to expose every flaw, every weakness, every doubt with one singular gaze.

Abruptly, pure agony blossomed in her head from the influx of visions drilling their way inside Lunafreya's mind.

Ages ago a king and oracle stood before the mighty god, seeking his blessings to combat eternal darkness. Both were tested in a battle that left devastation. In the end, they emerged stronger and victorious.

The warriors of light of an age long past.

"All of this…was my test?" Lunafreya whimpered out, shakily rising with the assistance of her staff to face the silent god.

Another vision thrashed her mind.

She stood dead the Stonehenge, light fading from her body, covenant unforged. The sun, the light, all of it eaten away by a violet moon. Endless screams as humanity succumbed to starscourge, plaguing Eos in eternal night and eternal torment of daemons.

"That did not come to pass!" Lunafreya slammed the staff on the ground, magic bursting out to push back the cold of dusk. "I stand before you alive and strong, ready to do my duty!"

That illusion elicited such fear in her. They'd predicted her too weak, dead before her time, duty abandoned.

Images of her companions fighting swept by in a flash, followed by the mystical interference of her mother.

"I-I…" The oracle wavered. "I know..."

The message had been clear. Were it not for all them, she'd have died at the altar, alone, forgotten, a failure.

The gifted hymn most of all had been a saving grace.

A song with the power of protection, akin to the spells the Caelums used. Lunafreya wouldn't have discerned that method on her own. The faulty spell she used in Saxham didn't compare to what her mother showed her she could do.

Song magic. The hallmark of the Fleuret family, a legacy lost until now.

"I am not weak!" She insisted, rejecting the bitter fortune.

Opposing visions replayed in her mind, gradually forcing Lunafreya to her knees.

The trial of the king and oracle, their power substantially stronger than any other and their struggle. The recent trial with Lunafreya and her companions, vastly different in strength and accord from their predecessors.

Back and forth, Titan emphasized these sets of memories.

"I understand…" The oracle winced, gripping her pounding head and begging for the judgement to end. She blearily took in the Archaean's face of stone, determined to finish her commitment. "I beseech thee, enter a covenant with me!"

Titan didn't move, red eye still examining Lunafreya. She picked herself up once more with her staff, huffing through the pain to stand upright, confident as an oracle should be when communing with the gods.

Something in her actions or gaze must've have finally satisfied the Landforger. He yelled and the earth shuddered.

Lunafreya choked as the ground beneath her glowed colors of red, yellow, and orange, enveloping her in a ray of energy. She wanted to scream from how much it hurt. It felt like a piece of her very essence was being ripped out of her body.

This had to be the price for the covenant.

A final vision came.

Noctis standing in her place. He looked robust and gallant with his sword at the ready. He'd grown from the gangly, awkward, teenager she knew from a photo he stuck in their book.

Her lamb…

Maybe…he wasn't so delicate anymore...

Lunafreya faded into unconsciousness as the beam released her, taking with it part of her soul and returning it to the gods.

Covenant forged, Titan descended into the earth, returning to sleep until the arrival of the Chosen King.

Once it was safe to move and no signs of any more golems, Nyx rushed to the oracle, rolling the girl onto her back.

"Lunafreya, Luna! Hey, open your eyes!" He demanded of the pale, unresponsive girl, lightly smacking her face for a reaction.

She groaned weakly, but remained limp in his arms.

"We need to get her…" The glaive lost his train of thought at seeing how out of focus the princess was. "Impera? What's wrong?"

Imperatrix was staring at the ground, arms wrapped around herself like she was cold. Her breaths were hurried and uneven. Tears edged out, trickling down her cheeks as she rocked in place.

"Imperatrix!" Nyx called again.

The princess drew in more at the disturbance, muttering between languages and flinching from invisible hits.

"Dammit, both of them?! Can I get a break?" He mumbled, adjusting the oracle in his arms so he could help out the princess.

Tempesta ran over with Nebula tossed over her shoulder like a sack and Nyx did a double-take.

Her brother was twice her size. How the hell was she carrying him and not quaking under the weight?!

"Shitty Princess, snap out of it!" She kicked Imperatrix in the back, propelling the woman forward into the dirt.

"Wow! I think one of you is the worst and then the other tops them!" The glaive unconsciously cradled Lunafreya closer, sheltering her from the violent monkey willing to attack someone clearly having a PTSD attack.

Tempesta ignored him, slapping away at the princess's head. "You're at the Disc of Cauthess, there's no Glacian here! Get your shit together!"

Imperatrix moaned, raising her arms to end the onslaught of strikes. "Stop it! I am coherent!"

The fist fighter obliged with one more slap for good measure, voice sounding wobbly from the scrambler. "Don't freak me out, Shitty Princess! I don't like seeing you like that!"

"I-I am s-sorry…" She cringed a little from the gauntlet inches from her head.

Tempesta's hand shook for a second, posed to thump, but then her fist uncurled and stretched out. "Take it."

The princess sniffled and took the hand reaching out for her, tugged to her feet by a strong grip.

"Sucks for your fancy clothes."

The princess cleaned her face, smiling wanly for her retainer's wonky diffusion tactic. "That is…the least of our concerns."

"No shit. How are we getting out of here?" Nyx chimed in, sighing at having to carry Lunafreya.

This setup was becoming a running gag.

"Tempesta, lay your brother down." Imperatrix instructed.

The fist fighter complied with minor confusion, setting the man down with surprising consideration. The princess searched along the utility belt on the man, claiming the grappling guns in the pouches.

Nebula used them for vantage points and for evasive maneuvers.

The wires managed to hold both him and Nyx, the heaviest members of their party. They should hold if they went in pairs. Problem being they were an odd-numbered group and the gunman possessed two guns.

"Why're you giving it to me?" Tempesta handled the item like an amateur, nearly dropping it when the princess guided the nozzle away from her person.

"So you can use it, Dear."

"What? Don't be stupid, Shitty Princess." She caught on to Imperatrix's line of thinking. "Nebula would kill me if I left you down here! I'd kill me for leaving you here!"

"Tempesta, it must be you. I cannot bear Nebula's weight." The princess asserted, gesturing to her singed arm that would require one or more curatives.

"But… Then I'll leave him here and come back for him!" The girl fidgeted in place, foot coming up to scratch at her leg as she ran through scenarios in her head. The visor moved back and forth in rapid succession between the gunman and princess. "That's…what he'd want. Neb's always saying to secure the princess first…"

"I am in a better state than he, it is logical for me to remain."

"That ain't the point…" Tempesta weakly argued.

Her brother was in bad shape.

She saw him hit the ground hard, probably snapped his neck…or something. His genes might be the only thing keeping him alive at this point.

"As your princess, I am commanding you to return to the Setzer." Imperatrix cut off anymore protests with a firm gaze, taking hold of her retainer's shoulders and pressing her forehead to the visor. "I promise I shall be fine."

"What am I supposed to do after? Walk all the way down here? That'll take hours!" The fist fighter bumped her helmet against the princess's forehead. "You could be killed by rocks, eaten by birds, or die of hunger by then!"

Unintentionally, a giggle escaped from Imperatrix at how repulsed Tempesta sounded at the notion of starvation.

"Never change, Darling Tempesta."

"Quit being all touchy-feely like you're gonna die. You're not all right! I was just kidding!" She slapped the princess, who moaned miserably at being hit on her bad arm. "Shit, shit, shit! My bad!"

Imperatrix expelled a long-suffering sigh and moved towards Nyx now that things were settled. She held out the second gun for him.

He scoffed at the offering. "Your plan sucks, on par with one of my suicidal ones. I thought I was the _hero_ , not you."

She twitched at his cocky rudeness, spiting out a reply. "We do not have a luxurious set of options available. This is best with two of the party down."

It wasn't like he was the one being left behind. Where did he get off giving her attitude?

"You're half my size. You and Tempesta together equal me." Nyx reasoned, snatching the gun and pointing at the girl. "Go up with her and Nebula."

"Oho, you are giving me orders?"

"Can it, I'm serious!" He bent to her height, no humor in his scowl, making the scarring stand out.

"Do not play intimidation with me." Imperatrix snarled, nose to nose with the glaive. "Know your place!"

"Cut the shit!" Nyx snapped, yanking her forward into his chest by the sleeve of her uniform. "Not even a minute ago you were having a mental breakdown! What makes you think staying here is a good idea?!"

The princess clammed up at the accusation, hands finding purchase on his arms. He could feel the tremble in those smaller hands and eased his grip to a more gentle one.

"See? You're insane if you think I'm going along with your plan." He was tempted to hug her from the sudden vulnerableness.

"We cannot risk the wire breaking!" Imperatrix made to escape, but Nyx wouldn't let her go. She looked up, appealing to him rationally. "All you have to do is get to the ship, fly overhead, and retrieve me."

"How the heck would we see you this far down? How would we even find you?"

"There is a tracker in my headpiece. The signal can traced from the computers."

"No! I don't wanna hear anymore." Nyx stubbornly indicated.

Imperatrix scoffed, shoving him off her. "You do not get to tell me no! Do as I bid Tempesta!"

"Screw that, Princess! I told you, bossing me around isn't going to fly!" The glaive didn't give her a chance to speak more. Taking a page out of Tempesta's book, he dipped down to throw Imperatrix over his shoulder and marched over to the fist fighter prepping to go up.

"Put me down! I am not to be treated this ignobly!" She pounded on his back, highly mortified and highly enraged.

"I'm starting to change my mind about our relationship." He grunted at the precise thumps that didn't hurt as much as the brats, but still were bothersome. "If you hit me, I'm gonna hit you back!"

The princess squeaked, appalled at being slapped on her rear. Her face heated an absurd shade of red and she dug her nails into Nyx's coat.

"I-I…I-I c-cannot believe…" She couldn't even formulate words from the surge of indignation.

He slapped her on the ass! Like…like some common barmaid!

And it freaking hurt!

"Here, take her skinny ass with you." Nyx all but tossed the princess to her retainer.

Tempesta secured a mind-blown Imperatrix to her side, adjusting Nebula's weight on her shoulder.

"My arms are full, so I'm gonna punch the shit out of you later." She threatened, kicking dirt at the glaive as a preview for the pain to come.

"Whatever." He blew off the peril with an undignified snort. "She's going up like you wanted. You're welcome, brat!"

"Tch. You didn't need to cop a feel to accomplish that, Savage Shit!"

"You're right, I didn't." Nyx spun around to get the other princess. He craned his neck to wink obnoxiously to the still stunned imperial. "But I did anyway!"

"I really hate you, you cocky, asshole, trash bastard!"

Imperatrix regained her senses when the wire pulled them. Her previous curse to the golems was hurled at the fading glaive and Tempesta laughed boisterously at the phrase.

The princess would grind him to dust!

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

" _Oh, Sister, I thought you dead! Seeing that missed call exploded my heart! Ask anyone, I was god-awful hysterical."_ Furia ranted, huffing loudly at the end. _"Ravus thought I was going mad, shook me a great deal. My hair ornaments practically fell out."_

"I am so sorry to have worried you." Imperatrix reiterated patiently for the dozenth time, shoulder nudging the phone into place by her ear.

She'd spent twenty minutes straight listening to a one-sided rant.

Everyone was exhausted after returning to the airship. Nebula and Lunafreya were placed in their rooms to sleep off the rejuvenating potions. The rest convened for a heavy meal after treating their own injuries.

Dinner was unnervingly quiet with two missing and the rest wrapped in their own thoughts.

" _You defy the odds, Elder Sister. What next shall you do?"_ Furia giggled wickedly. _"Conquer the world? Father would be so pleased!"_

"I have a much more daunting task." The princess sipped gingerly at her steaming cup of tea.

The night sky was alight with twinkles.

From her vantage on top of the Setzer, the meteor faintly shined red to the ink-black background of sky and land. Its deceptive beauty could almost quell her ill sentiments for the ordeal they went through merely hours ago.

" _What could be more difficult than world domination?"_

"Peace between Lucis and Niflheim."

" _Oh, Imperatrix! Do not be insufferable! As if Father could sign those accords after they took you hostage."_ The second princess paused, softening her voice to a tone of sickly sweetness. _"The fault is not yours. Those Lucians are so eager to kill us Aldercapts off. Why, it is astounding you and Father even made it past the entrance."_

Imperatrix felt discomforted by the platitudes for some reason. She leaned against the wall, hot breeze making her want to climb down the ladder and return to the air-conditioned kitchen.

" _At least they did not maim you this time, yes? They paid dearly for that transgression."_ Furia was either unaware or unconcerned with the quickened inhale from her sister, talking on with babyish consternation. _"Poor husband of mine has been dreadfully snappish with the loss of his arm! For once, the servants are more wary of him, than me."_

"Ravus is…not mistreating you, is he?" Imperatrix chose not to comment on the old, throbbing, wound her sister opened with her comment, focusing on another matter.

She saw the signs from Lunafreya. The elder Fleuret had a penchant for physical reprimands.

It explained why the girl was so vicious in regards to her brother and her jumpiness with Tempesta's jocular jabs. Her mouth had to be the culprit for Ravus snapping at her so much that she instinctively expected lash outs from people after expressing herself.

Lunafreya needed to learn how to speak without being rude to the recipient, even when in disagreement. That serene appearance could only deflect so much.

" _Not in a manner that displeases me."_ Furia tittered, which in turn brought about Imperatrix spurting out her tea from laughing.

"F-Furia, you are a scandal!"

" _Indeed and men love it."_

"My goodness, tell me you have not been lining his back with whip marks? He is in recovery!"

" _Sadly no. I am a considerate wife, only my nails have been grazing his back. Matter of fact, Ravus has taken a liking to—"_ The second princess shrieked and spewed out apologies could be heard on her side.

"Furia?!" Imperatrix set her teacup down. "What's the matter?!"

" _Ohhh…Felix pulled too hard on my hair. Look at that knot! Ugh, look what stress does!"_ She whined with jumbled input coming from two other males. _"He and Paz send their love, Elder Sister."_

"What are they doing in your room this late?"

" _Helping me look splendid for my husband. The doctor has held him hostage all day, toiling over when my Ravus can get the surgery for his arm replacement."_ Furia hummed suggestively. _"A little…rendezvous in the night ought to mellow him...and relieve my ongoing boredom!"_

Imperatrix imagined her sister's retainers combing the girl's rare, rosy-red, borderline pink, hair into silken waves, embellishing her already bewitching features with makeup, and garbing her in an outfit meant to seduce.

Passion was in Furia's nature as duty was in hers.

Ravus was fortunate to have her precious sister as a wife. He'd better be treating her with respect and love, else she'd whip him into shape.

" _Impera, I can hear your jaw clenching. What is prompting that unladylike tick of yours?"_ The second princess puffed juvenilely into the speaker. _"Have I stirred envy in you with my stratagem? I could give you pointers if you wish."_

She squawked at the incorrect guess. Furia took the reaction as confirmation, cooing loudly.

" _Sister, I know not why you bother denying yourself! Get over your anger already, it never lasts, least of all with Father's favorite pet!"_

"Hold on now!"

Sometimes it felt like her secret wasn't so secret.

She'd told Furia of the romance with Ardyn to dissipate the girl's paranoia of her carrying on with Ravus. Imperatrix had been prepared to marry the ex-prince as a political alliance between Tenebrae and Gralea, but then the second wife schemed to get her daughter married. Instead of the crown princess walking down the aisle, it was the second princess bound eternally to Ravus Nox Fleuret.

Imperatrix held no bitterness over the affair, it allowed her friend a chance at a happy marriage and saved her from being stuck in a loveless one.

There was no way she would've been able to view Ravus as a husband when, for the most part, he didn't even register her as a woman, too accustomed to viewing her as a soldier for a lifelong commitment to work between them.

Never mind how she would've dealt with permanently dislodging Ardyn from her heart since Tenebrae would never stand for its prince facing competition from another spouse and their overall stance on polygamy.

The most virile member of their family was stuck with one husband for the rest of their time on Eos. The notion made Imperatrix laugh on occasion.

" _He is pretty with that flaming hair, amber eyes, pale skin, and tall stature, like something born out of the Infernian's flames. Quite the appropriate mixing with Sister's snowy locks, blue gems, bronze skin, and lithe body. The lovers, Shiva and Ifrit reflected!"_ Furia purred, laughing at something the princess couldn't hear. _"Oh, such a pairing! If only Ardyn's personality did not give pause and…his manner of dress…and everything else..."_

"Little Sister, I do not think we should speak of him…" Imperatrix could feel her cheeks warming at the casual acknowledgment of her relationship.

The princess hadn't been in an girlish conversation about boys in…she couldn't remember.

For more than a year since being ejected from Gralea on her father's orders, she stayed knee-deep in politics and military matters. There was hardly any time to fret over female matters when she was keeping borders safe, hunting monsters, and placating nobles.

This line of topic was jarring...

" _Impera, my retainers wish to know. Is your Ardyn by any chance...queer? He has this…kind of vibe...they say."_

"Excuse me?!"

Pax and Felix were something else!

The two males had been assigned to Furia specifically for their preferences. There would be no fear of affairs or pregnancies when they held zero interest in females, moreso in each other.

They were the resident couple in the Praetorian Guard, consisting of the royal retainers. This fact was a balm to their father and an insult to his wife, who wanted more esteemed subjects for her daughter, not the hand-offs from the emperor's brother.

To everyone's joy, Furia got over her initial consternation with the censoring, and quickly warmed to Pax and Felix's good looks, agreeable personalities, and combat skills.

The three were menaces and quite possibly hazardous to the conservative lifestyle of the Tenebraens.

"Ardyn is not queer! How could you even ask that?!" Imperatrix fired off in a surprising bout of jealousy.

As if she wasn't adequate for him!

She gulped down her tea at the string of arousal from recalling their recent coupling.

Gods! It was like opening and closing a dam with him! One moment cutting off ties, angrily loathing everything about the man. Another moment feeling everything at once, clinging to the romanticism of the man.

" _Hmm, you would be the best judge…and you did say he enjoys being beneath. Inconceivable for most men!"_

"As we all know, he is not most men."

" _Very true. Tell me though…does your red-head also like you bowed over on your knees for it? That could be a sign!"_

"Furia!" Imperatrix was steps away from fainting with how much blood was racing to her head.

" _Come now, you are the eldest, do not be prudish! Educate your beloved, younger, sister."_

"There are some things we should not share!"

" _I am certain you share these things with your mangy, wild pet!"_ The second princess spat. _"Tempesta is far more vulgar than I!"_

The princess sighed at the outburst. She didn't understand one bit how the younger Besithia got along with Euphemia and Venus, but it was blood matches with Furia.

"We…he does not…" She swallowed her pride for the sake of her sister and shyly mentioned. " He favors it no more special than the others. I usually end up...on top simply due to a lack of restraint on my part…"

Imperatrix very much wanted to claw her face at her illustrativeness, but if it made Furia happy…then, oh well.

The things she did out of love.

" _Oh, Sister! I miss talking to you! I miss talking to any woman! My pets can only substitute so much."_ Furia popped her lips as she did when struck with a thought. _"Maybe your Ardyn likes both! That would fit the bill for his sense of unusual."_

"Oh, lord! You and Euphemia are fully related, no doubt. The absurd things that come out your mouths!"

" _Do not rule it out avidly. He is too…I have not the words for it, but—"_ She went silent.

"Little Sister?"

The second princess shouted off orders to her retainers, static coming through from bumbling on her side.

" _Elder Sister, my husband returns! I must bid you good night."_ She smacked her lips over the speaker in imitation of a kiss. _"Do be naughty and ride your stallion at the earliest opportunity!"_

A beep and the princess gawked at the phone. She burst into laughter at the audacity of it all.

What a ridiculously normal conversation they had. No real talk of war, or any kind of ugliness, just simple, youthful things a woman could concern herself with.

Imperatrix…loved it.

Oh, to be like Furia! A woman worrying over appearances, submitting to romance, and chattering plainly. It felt far away and out of touch for her.

No more!

A certain imp told her it was time to acknowledge herself.

No more hiding. No more conforming to the boyish standard set by senators. Those old fools in red robes wouldn't dictate a crucial part of her being any longer!

She wouldn't ever be a prince, an emperor. She was a princess, one day an empress!

"Vincit qui se vincit." Imperatrix recited the wisdom imparted by her father on a hushed evening in his study with them sequestered at his table, positioning figurines on the world map.

She'd been too small to reach the high surface. He'd picked her up, fondly giving out kisses for each correct placement of the royal models he was studying. Back then there were many noble families and their allegiances were ever shifting with every season.

"I am _Princess Imperatrix_ , not _Prince Imperator_." She smiled, stargazing for an unknown length of time with her tea set for company.

"I didn't take you for a heights kind of girl." Nyx poked his head up the opening, propping himself up on his arm. "So, whatcha doing?"

"How did you know where to find me?" The peace and quiet had been interrupted.

"I didn't. Was actually looking for a hideout myself." The glaive invited himself up, revealing a bottle of liquor in his grasp. The swishing noise gave away that he'd already been drinking. "As a man of Galahd, I like knock a few back while under the stars."

"I have almost finished my tea. I will leave you." She gathered the tray, prepared to depart, only for Nyx to flop down in front of her and splay his legs into her lap. "What are you—do you have any sense of boundaries?!"

"Not a lick!" He made no move extricate his limbs. The man uncorked the bottle and tilted it in the princess's direction. "Since you're here, have a drink with me."

Imperatrix stared, apprehensive.

"Do you have to be difficult?" Nyx stole her teapot, pouring the alcohol into it. "And you're using a tea set. Geez, you're a _princess_!"

"Almost every word out your mouth begs for a punch." The princess's jaw ticked. She latched onto his arm, hurriedly halting the flow of liquor. "Do not pour the whole bottle!"

"Lightweight." The glaive teased, obliging the request by setting the bottle down. He then carefully shook the pot, mixing the contents like a professional.

"I am not."

"Hmph. You're skinny and I barely saw you drink anything at Hypnosis. As an experienced bartender, I can call'em." Satisfied, the teapot was held out in challenge to the princess. "Six, maybe seven shots and you're gone!"

"Is this to be our first match? A drinking game?" Imperatrix didn't confirm or deny his assessment, merely raising her cup to accept the offer. With how buzzed he already was, Nyx might be out of her hair, passed out drunk in minutes. Then it would be a matter of whether or not she took pity on him, letting him sleep outside, or lugging his body into the hangar. "Or are you attempting to prey on me in a weakened state?"

"Guess if you wanna consider this another pass, go ahead."He poured himself a glass, double what could be held by the teacup. "Still capable of seducing you sober though."

"I am still mad due to your inappropriate contact, Nyx."

"Heh, that's still on your mind? Not the _insubordination_?" The glaive grinned cheekily. "That says a lot, babe."

"Do not call me that!" Imperatrix colored, sloshing some of her drink from her irked movements. "You are insufferable."

"You're stuck-up." Nyx threw out without a care.

"You're a narcissist!"

"Control freak."

"Reckless lummox!"

"Pushover!"

"Dog!"

Nyx laughed, unable to go on and waving for her to stop while he collected himself. He refilled his cup and then leaned over to check hers. "Impera, come on! Do I need to help you again?"

His hand reached forward to tip her cup.

"I think not!" She downed the rest in a single gulp, coughing once done. "Flaming hellfire! I prefer to do it in moderation!"

"That's boring as hell. It'd take forever to get a buzz the way you do it." Without prompting the teacup was filled.

"Doing it slowly allows enjoyment, versus losing to quick abandon with no recollection of the process."

Nyx tilted his head, eyelids sinking. His sudden mood shift had Imperatrix wanting to fidget, but she sat rigidly still, narrowing her eyes in warning for any potential shenanigans.

"It sounds like…you're talking about something else." The glaive said lowly, tenuously, like he was watching prey before it bolted.

"You are mistaken." The princess deviated from where the course was heading, actively portraying calm when she felt otherwise.

There was a tension…waiting to be acknowledged and broken, but she wouldn't.

"For the record, I prefer fast and hard." Nyx nudged her knee with his foot and she jerked from the contact, spilling the liquid over her sensitive arm and groaning from the tinge of pain.

"I do not like this!" She raised her knees to her chest, wrapping around them in an effort to pacify the affect of his words. Her body wanted to squirm, but Imperatrix wouldn't!

"Of course you don't. A pretty princess like you probably's never been fu—"

"Stop!"

Nyx laughed at her hands pushing him back.

"You don't want me to." He let her next shove send him back and took her with him. "I'm sick of stopping! Look at how you're messing with me!"

The glaive grunted hoarsely, hands yanking Imperatrix right over his hips and where friction was desperately desired. She gasped at the feel of an enflamed man, and then covered her mouth, abashed at the moaning escaping out her lips from Nyx's fingers digging into her thighs and their rhythmic grinding.

"I swear you've been in my head from day one! It's time to fix that." He sat up with one arm keeping them moving against each other and the other wrenching the obstacle from the lips he wanted to capture.

The princess turned her head from the lunge, attempted kiss landing beneath her jaw and she felt his growl on her throat. She drove him to the floor after his tongue crept out to lick her neck in an open-mouth kiss.

"I will tolerate no further boldness from you!" Imperatrix scrambled off the man, diving for the ladder and sliding down rashly.

She heaved angrily for Nyx's lack of restraint and her indecent compliance.

Wretched bastard! What gave him the right to touch her?!

Imperatrix was a princess. A woman meant to be treated with respect, not wanton forcefulness!

She collapsed into her bed, hugging a pillow to scream into. "Traitorous body!"

Her heart wouldn't slow down, her breath wouldn't even, and her aching wouldn't cease!

"This is why I do not consume abundantly!" Imperatrix moaned defeatedly.

The alcohol in her system made her libido ten times more potent. She blamed it, Furia's discussion, and Ardyn's absence for the slip.

Gods damned Nyx! She was above baseless lusts of the flesh!

After punching her pillow until tiring, the princess regained a marginal sense of rationality, falling to her back and flinching at the press of cold metal on her skin. She reached behind.

Her phone blinked the time in a bright flash.

"I should be asleep…" Her arm lowered, resting the device on her stomach.

Yet, sleep wouldn't come when she was so antsy.

She couldn't leave her room for fear of encountering Nyx and cuffing him into the next century. Late night work didn't appeal to her either.

Really, she wanted to complain to someone, but there was no one awake at this hour…

"Not the man who never sleeps." The princess dialed on the phone.

Ardyn's jolly greeting confirmed his alertness at a time where most were gone into dreams.

"If I asked you to kill Nyx, would you do it?" Imperatrix asked without preamble.

The chancellor gasped dramatically. _"What a topic, my dear! Whatever has he done to invoke the Aldercapt wrath?!"_

"He…" The princess's burst of fury instantly rendered her speechless for how puerile and lame it sounded in her head. "Never mind…erase my words from mind."

Now she regretted bothering Ardyn.

" _Impera, Dearest, you need only say the word and I will gladly slay the beast."_ He chuckled. _"What man would turn down the chance to rid himself of competition?"_

"Ardyn…" She didn't want to hide what happened with Nyx.

Honesty was important in relationships, especially when they didn't have a good track record for truth. Omission of facts most certainly counted as lying-in the imp's case. She tended to be upfront with most subjects.

The chancellor seemed to know what was bothering her. _"While I am perfectly agreeable to your ways, it doesn't stop me from wanting you all to myself."_

"Nyx is loathsome! He makes the most obscene advances on me!" The words tumbled out in an immature rant anyway and Imperatrix barely stopped herself from lashing out on the pillow again. More damage would cause the stuffing to burst out. "I do not want him!"

" _Ah, he touched you in a manner you did not like? Hence, your requested mafia-styled hit."_ Ardyn tutted disappointedly. _"And I did warn him! Boys like that are hard-headed, my dear."_

"What do you mean?" The princess hadn't seen the chancellor and glaive interacting long enough for any threats to be issued.

In fact, the red-head had gone out of his way to monopolize her time at the manor, carting her off whenever Nyx ventured to speak with Imperatrix. She'd humored the covetous behavior, savoring their temporary closeness.

As aggravating as Ardyn could be, he made her laugh, smile, and forget, catering…to the childish side of her that she had to bury under the weight of responsibility.

" _Did you enjoy it?"_

"Pardon?" Imperatrix clenched at the pillow from the levels of sensuality echoing off him.

" _Did you enjoy being touched by him?"_ The chancellor repeated with no less huskiness. _"Don't be shy about it."_

"My goodness! Why must you all torment me so?!" She ground her teeth, legs bunched together painfully tight and offering no relief.

" _Aren't you adorable, Musa? I've no doubt he was pleased. I am jealous!"_ Ardyn groaned pitifully, voice waning to a resonant bass. _"Tell me where his hands have been on you."_

"W-What?!" The shock led to her rude wording that would've gotten a chastisement from her father if he'd heard her. "A-Ardyn…do you…" She gulped uncertainly. "Truly wish me to…speak of that?"

Imperatrix figured it might've been her imagination. The alcohol assuredly was marring her senses.

" _Yes, I do."_ He answered succinctly. _"Be very specific, my dear."_

Again, the princess found herself momentarily yanked out her comfort zone.

Throwing caution to the wind, she did as asked, infinitely grateful that her overly flustered countenance couldn't be seen. His enthusiastic groans and commentary for her tale eventually drew her in like a moth and Imperatrix lost the timidness, speaking as amorously and breathily as Ardyn.

" _Oh, Impera. If only I was with you…"_

"What then? What would do to me, my Darling?" She laid down, mournfully tracing her hand over a pillow where she wished the imp laid, propped up on his fist, smiling and gazing at her like she was a rare gem to be treasured.

" _Is it my turn for storytelling?"_ He hummed thoughtfully. _"Were I with you, the night would be filled with my name sung from your sweet lips and yours from mine, a duet of the grandest order! You are a divine sight to behold in throes of passion, Dearest Musa."_

"Where are you? When will I next see you, my darling consort?" The princess looked to the window, drowsily searching out for the man she wouldn't find.

Somewhere, the chancellor was witnessing the same sky as her. With that in mind, he didn't feel so far.

" _Why, I am in Lestallum, setting up an operation and monitoring some wayward children. Unfortunately, I shall be occupied for some days."_

Her noise of disgruntlement garnered a lengthy whine from Ardyn.

" _Now, now, don't do that. You'll make me sadder than I already am at not having you in my arms!"_

"Lestallum? Why there? And what children interest you?" Imperatrix yawned.

" _Did I hear a yawn? How cute."_ He crooned teasingly.

"Ardyn, an answer if you please."

" _We can discuss your venture to the Disc and its connection to my current mission in the morning."_

An epiphany broke through the fog. "You knew…all along…"

" _In the morning."_ The chancellor sang.

"Fine, we will talk tomorrow." Her blinks were becoming slower and slower.

" _I bid you good dreams."_

"And you? Will you dream of me?" The princess's eyes closed, mind halfway into unconsciousness and phone drooping down from her ear.

" _It is all I do, Musa. You are a light in the dark, when all others have gone out."_

"I love you, Ardyn…" Was Imperatrix's last remark before head sank into the pillow, senses left for illusion's domain.

The chancellor laughed at the soft breathing he heard. His response would go unheard, but still, he would respond in kind. _"My love for you transcends all."_

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Impera, I'm fine." Nebula drawled for the fifth time as the princess combed through his hair for the injury that used to be there.

He was beyond pissed to have been knocked out in a crucial situation. His liege could've died due to his ineptitude.

Unforgivable! Imperatrix was right, he'd been slacking.

"Nebula, I do not think you understand. Your head trauma might have killed another!" The princess deceased her profuse fussing, instead resting the side of her cheek on top of his golden hair and wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him. "Thank goodness for your helmet averting worse…"

The gunman had been bewildered to awaken with both Imperatrix and Tempesta hovering over his bed in worry. His sister immediately socked him in the stomach when he sat up, belting out numerous curses. The princess stepped in to prevent the pest from abusing him right back into a critical state.

The malady circulating in his body was what saved him from dying.

"You're old, begging to keel over. Course Impera's gonna be all over you." Tempesta glowered snidely at her brother, kicking his outstretched leg. "Suck it up, Geezer."

He grimaced at the petulant attacks that kept coming.

Why couldn't he relax in his room peacefully? At least Imperatrix's weight behind him was comforting.

"Not like I care that you could've died. Nope, not a bit!" The fist fighter tore off the straw attachment of her juicebox and almost skewered the thing from violently inserting the straw. "One less identical face I gotta see."

Her slurping was insistent and bratty.

"I rescind my words. Use your fists in place of words. Your voice is grating on my nerves." Nebula crushed his finished drink, enticed to throw the garbage at the girl with similar features to him and every other unfortunate "child" of Verstael Besithia.

It was a small mercy that their genders differed.

He'd have gone mad if an exact mirror image greeted him every day as a retainer to the princess and captain of the Praetorian Guard. Having a brother as his sergeant would've left little tolerance for the other, junior, members he was in charge of. He'd also be forced to wear his mask at all times and in the safety of the palace, Nebula didn't want to hide his identity.

"No fighting you two. We did plenty of that yesterday." Imperatrix tugged the gunman back into her chest at feeling him tense up for an attack. When he seemed docile, she kissed the top of his head, extracted herself from him, and took a seat in between the siblings on the floor.

She smiled at routine snack fest the two reveled in during downtime. Junk food was their greatest guilty pleasure.

"Can we drop the doll now? She proved every reservation I had with her 'prayer stunt'. Lunafreya almost killed us!" Nebula aired with extreme aversion, fingers twitching automatically for a gun that wasn't strapped to his casual wear.

"She's a hassle, too much trouble!" Tempesta joined in, on the same wavelength as her brother. "Totally wasted a good meal."

"Not vital, glutton." He scathingly rebuffed.

"It is so!"

Nebula threw the juicebox at his sister.

"Why you!"

"We cannot spirit Lunafreya away." Imperatrix spoke over Tempesta's hissing, raising a challenging eyebrow at the girl prepared to spike her garbage.

She lowered the item, grumbling mutinously.

"Your Highness—"

The princess raised a hand to silence the elder blonde. "I have spoken with the chancellor…Father has designs for the oracle."

The retainers perked up, giving their full attention to her.

Ardyn knew of Lunafreya's intent to begin her pilgrimage now that she was loose. He knew of the grave effect the oracle's prayer would have on the sleeping god. How he knew all this was a another mystery the imp wouldn't be sharing with her.

Lunafreya misled them. Spiritual nourishment hadn't been her goal. Though, Imperatrix should've known that from the dubious excuses given. Rousing Titan had been the least of her expectations on the list of potential pitfalls.

Her propensity to hope for the best and prepare for the worst had fallen vastly short for that expenditure.

She was infuriated to learn that chaos had been intentional. Were the girl awake, bitter, resentful, words might've flown from the princess's lips to Lunafreya.

The innocent, weak, pale, figure swaddled in blankets was a lie.

No wonder she wanted to go alone. Would she have run off after imploring the Archaean to destroy them? Off to another god to summon and ravish the land of enemies?

"Uh, um, what're we gonna do with Lunar Temple?" Tempesta's foot itched the back of her leg, blue orbs going from princess and floor in succession. "Stick-face Rav will _rave_ if we execute his sister."

Nebula gave a thumbs down to the play on words. "Lame. Exceptionally lame, Tempy."

"Shuddup! That was good!" She stuck her tongue out haughtily.

"Your decision, Princess?" He ignored further engagement with his sister.

"We continue Lunafreya's pilgrimage, allow her to play the role of Divine Herald." Imperatrix resolved with resignation for the orders given to her.

Two confused faces greeted the princess.

"Father wishes an end to the god's presence on Eos. To this end, he is willing to let them be awakened." She elaborated, shivering at past and future devastation to be wrought. "Then they shall be slain."

Stunned silence.

More plans and phases that Imperatrix wasn't privy to. Between the emperor and chancellor, they'd planned ahead for multiple contingencies. Things were moving fast, at a rate and urgency that alarmed the princess.

Were they tempting fate? Would her father reach too high, ambitions burned by the sun and sending him plummeting?

Climbs were long and arduous, but falls swift and ruinous.

It was only a matter of time before a blockade was set up around the Disc of Cauthess. Airships and advanced magitek soldiers would be stationed to allay the Landforger.

The site was far enough from civilization that there wouldn't be catastrophic damage to any cities. At worst, tremors from Titan's movements may cause infrastructure damage, a setback the empire could afford to fix.

"Woah, this is hardcore! The old man is really trying to go out with a bang. Talk about a legacy!" Tempesta slurped the rest of her new juicebox with gusto. "Conquerer of Lucis and Godslayer?! Man, he'll be even more legendary than…than…" She slumped forward, scrunching up her face at Imperatrix. "Uh, what's your great ancestor's name again?"

The princess couldn't control the giggle that erupted from her.

"Tempesta, really? Can you honestly be that _dense_?" Nebula sighed with such irritation and second-hand embarrassment that the fist fighter blushed from neck to ears, ready to explode.

"I confess…to being disappointed as well." Imperatrix patted the girl's knee before she could leap the distance to strangle her brother. She gave her retainer a composed smile, in spite of wanting to force a history book into Tempesta's hands and then quizzing her on what she learned. "Darling, what is my name?"

"Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt." She breezily answered.

The princess and gunman waited for her to get it, but Tempesta continued on with her accomplished grin. Having her repeat the name still didn't the message to sink in.

"I disown you from the Besithia family." Nebula droned with a deadness that chilled.

"Wha?! I don't get it!"

Imperatrix shushed the younger blonde, drawing her into a pitying hug and repetitiously carding fingers through the fist fighters long locks. "Tellus! The first emperor's name was Tellus Aldercapt."

"Ohh, I get it now." She purred contentedly at the petting.

When her hair wasn't tangled and matted from the helmet, the combing felt nice.

Tempesta would've preferred shorter hair, but Imperatrix was always complementing her, offering to brush it, and looking so happy at the feature, that she let the hair grow out to the middle of her back. A high ponytail usually kept most of it out of the way and parting her bangs down the middle, unlike Nebula's angled style, gave her a wilder look from her siblings.

"You should not reward idiocy, Impera." Nebula crossed his arms and legs, lounging against the bunk beds.

"Oh, hush you." The princess giggled freely at how very cat-like Tempesta could be.

Having the girl's mask remade in the image of a feline after the millionth instance of the fist fighter breaking it, was a stroke of genius. Nebula gagged when first saw it, a complete opposite to his sister, who bounced around like an energetic child at the silly addition.

Anything that made her stand out seemed to be okay in the younger Besithia's book.

"Are you…okay with this plan, Your Highness?" The gunman queried to the princess, straw spinning in his mouth from chewing on it in place of a cigarette.

"Truthfully…no…" Imperatrix stilled for a moment. "I am of a mind to let sleeping gods rest."

The Astrals terrified her.

Twice now she'd come into contact with beings far out of her league and by the end she felt helpless, all accomplished military skills amounting to nothing in the face of a mammoth entity.

She was an infant waving around a toy sword in those battles.

"I do see the wisdom in Father's plans. In long terms, the mortal plane would be free of any wrathful episodes from The Six. The minor gods rarely dabble in our affairs. They do not cause unease." Imperatrix laid her chin on top of Tempesta's head, curling around the smaller girl like she was a cushion to unfurl her burdens on. "We need only weather the storm to make way for the sun."

The fist fighter cackled. "Mission: Awake The Six, start! We are so getting _Godslayers_ added on as titles!"

"This is why half the world calls us Nephilim, heathens. Despite our moniker as 'children of the gods'." Nebula snorted.

"And cause Graleans still pay tribute to the Betrayer and all other territories worship outside The Six." She added to her brother's astonishment.

"Maybe I will take you back into the Besithia household." He started chewing on the straw. "Why do you know that, but not the founder's name?"

"Euphie blabbers on and on about deities."

"Should I get her to educate you since you clearly listen to her?"

"Nooo, I don't need to be schooled! I'm a fighter, you hear?!"

Imperatrix shrieked from Tempesta's bouncing head making her bite her tongue.

"Whoops! Sorry!"

Nebula snickered and then yawned. His yawn soon had his sister doing the same.

"Rest, my friends. You have earned it." Imperatrix gently nudged the fist fighter out of her lap.

"Damn right. I stayed vigilant over your bedside, Neb. Bout time for my nap." She leaped for the bottom bunk bed, rolling around until she was snuggled in comfort.

The elder blonde wanted to follow his sister's deeds, but the princess's blatant fixation on the pile of litter from their snacks needed to be assuaged before he clocked out.

"I will clean it, Impera."

She hummed in disbelief, not falling for the fake smile gracing Nebula's normally stoic face.

"I mean it, I will. Don't be an imp about it." He shouldn't be entirely responsible for the mess, but Tempesta's exaggerated snoring made clear her piggish ways wouldn't be rectified, leaving him in the doghouse.

He abhorred females sometimes.

Imperatrix twitched at the label she associated more with Ardyn and less with herself, even though the word resided in her name.

She curved around the junk to exit her retainer's shared quarters, new destination in mind.

The gym room became her sanctuary. Drill forms emptied her emotions, blanketing her in an apathetic state of mind.

Why now? Why were so many things happening at once?

The rise of daemon appearances. The fall of Insomnia. Titan's earthquakes.

Too many events in too little time.

What course were they heading in this turbulence? What game was Ardyn playing with them?

Lunafreya to commune and awaken. Noctis to commune and…what?

Was there yet another divine power to the Caelums? A ring and crystal weren't enough?

Imperatrix panted heavily after slicing an imaginary foe in half. Her muscles ached from exertion. "What more does Puer Regem need? The ring…"

She froze.

The Ring of the Lucii was in Lunafreya's safe-holding and the princess made no mention or protest of it. None of the three had spoken a word about the item so many fought and died over in Insomnia.

After seeing what it cost on the wearer, the princess wanted nothing to do with the jewelry.

"All of this magical drivel gives me a headache…" Imperatrix sighed dismally.

Her overall frustration heightened considerably when the other nuisance entered the gym.

"It's amazing how hard it is to find someone in an airship." Nyx strolled in with too much casualness.

The princess gripped her sword with tremulous force.

"What do you want, Glaive?" She bit out.

He stopped in his tracks at the livid sneer he was on the receiving end of. It didn't look right on Imperatrix, the woman whose aloofness was a facade for uniform geniality that was given out to everyone and didn't seem to end.

This…

Nyx had really pissed her off.

"Look, about last night…" He began rockily.

Normally, the glaive wasn't the hesitant type with the opposite sex. Were this a regular day in the Crown City, and a regular woman, he'd play off the drunken blunder, maybe even turn on the charm to sway his catch into another round of fun.

This wasn't Insomnia, where ladies swooned over his Kingsglaive status, and Imperatrix wasn't regular. She could punch like a professional and probably could dismember something important with a sword…

This was new territory for Nyx.

"Step no closer!" The princess punctuated the command with a raised blade before the glaive.

"Alright, alright!" He took a step back, hands coming up peacefully for the wild animal looking for the slightest hint to maim. "Boundaries, I get it."

"Do you? Because you show zero respect for mine!"

The tip of the blade dug into his neck and Nyx silently thanked whoever for the sword being a dulled one for training.

"Impera, I—"

"We are not that close!" The princess forced him to the ground with the blade, on his knees and prostate before her. "This is your place. Rise not above it, commoner!"

He stayed strangely mute, eyes flashing with something all-consuming and Imperatrix couldn't bear to look upon him. She turned her back on Nyx, wanting to scream, cry, and hit all at once.

The onslaught of emotions was too much!

"Hey, Princess."

Her feet were swept out from under her and Imperatrix collided with the mat.

"Lets have that match." The glaive cracked his knuckles, rotating his arms in preparation for the spar.

"You…" She rose, refusing to be on the ground while he stood.

"You're pissed. Now I'm pissed. A fight's what we need." He matched her ire with his own, expression disturbingly close to the prejudice of a first meeting of Nephilim and Lucian. "I'm not sucking up to you like every other imperial. Don't like it, tough shit!"

She whirled on him. He barely fended off the attack and they rolled.

Fists, feet, insults, and curses flew between the glaive and princess in their brawl. Neither held back, eventually getting into a sword fight when Nyx rammed into the display and had to stave off Imperatrix aiming to stab him.

The match came to a conclusion with the glaive pinned to the ground by two swords crossed over his neck and the princess puffing above him.

"Got to be kidding me?! You won because I'm not at a hundred-percent!" Nyx groaned at the stinging all over.

Imperatrix was Titus Drautos's student alright.

"I would win even then!" She laughed, slowly removing her knee from the man's chest and yanking out the blades. "How like a man to be a sore loser! It makes victory all the more amusing."

"Stuff it! I'll kick your ass next time."

"Next time?" The princess's laughter became derisive. "Ah, you are abhorrent! If either of my retainers saw me, they might kill you."

She was bleeding in a few places from where Nyx cut her and was sure to have bruises from where he welted her. The spot above her eyebrow panged the most.

They'd brawled like some hormonal, raging, teenagers, no hold-backs. Highly unbecoming of a princess and ungallant of a more chivalrous man.

"You're a piece of work yourself, Impera. Forcing me to my knees like some tyrant!" The glaive glowered, massaging the poor jaw to receive another solid hit from the princess. No way could he continue calling those "love taps". "You're pretty disrespectful yourself."

She crossed her arms, scrutinizing him for sincerity in his offended air. "Were we in the east, my actions—"

"We're not! And I ain't beholden to you!" He interrupted, hopping up to loom over the shorter woman.

"We stand at an impasse." Imperatrix tilted her head to the side, apology dying before given life. Her storming negative energy vanished for vacuity. "Why did you seek me out?"

Nyx lost his train of thought at her yield.

"To apologize for…for…" He scratched his beard. "Huh, what would you call that? My hands didn't get anywhere sensitive. And you were rubbing on me…"

"I meant…forget it…" She'd wanted to know why he advanced on her, but her words were confusing.

Perhaps the misunderstanding was for the best. Imperatrix wasn't ready for Nyx, for a new avenue…not with how the horizon clouded with events to come.

The princess sat down before her legs gave out and she had to be subjected to a "falling for me" joke from the glaive.

"Why were you drinking last night?"

He avoided answering, stiffly looking elsewhere from her expectant openness.

"You owe me that explanation at the very least."

"Fine." Nyx slumped to level with Imperatrix.

The princess waited, intrigued by the show of reluctance. The man went about everything with cavalierness. To see him remotely vulnerable was a callback to his breakdown in the fall.

He'd lost everything and couldn't bear the weight…

"Magic was a fundamental part of my life and now its gone. I'm no different…from the average joe…" Nyx looked off to the side, gathering his thoughts. "Down there, it really hit home and for one moment…I understood."

"Understood what?" Imperatrix asked softly, kindly, in regard to his dispirited glaring in the distance.

"How powerless everyone else must feel in a world of magic and gods. How…terrified that can leave somebody. I forgot all that." Nyx finally glanced at the princess, ruefully palming at his bad arm. "We must've looked like bedtime monsters to the rest of the world. The Kingsglaive, the whole Caelum family, oracle business, it's all unreal to the average person."

He scooted closer, slowly, cautiously, reaching for the hand resting in Imperatrix's lap. She allowed the scarred hand to hold hers.

"Seeing you freak out so bad made me realize…I wasn't a hero to everyone. Like you, some people looked on in horror at the things I could do." Nyx squeezed the gloved hand. "An epiphany like that required booze. Who wants to acknowledge that they're a monster?"

"No one…" She sighed in understanding, for that feeling was one nestled in her heart for the things her country, her people had done over the years. Imperatrix elected to share a remnant of wisdom with him. "Vincit qui se vincit."

"I don't speak Latin, Impera." The glaive wrangled his fingers in a motion of "go on".

"He conquers who conquers himself." The princess bequeathed the meaning with a tiny lift of her lips. "You are no monster, you are human. Overcome your failings and control your actions. Win those battles you shall be twice victorious, Nyx Ulric."

A grin stretched out his face, washing out the self-doubt and disgust. "What do you know? You've got some lines, hun."

He moved towards her.

"Boundaries!" A hand discontinued further closeness.

Did he really just try to kiss her? After what they just went over?!

The glaive snorted into her palm, rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

"Lay not a hand on me. Permission must be given by the recipient, dog!"

Nyx's expression gained no repentance, fire of challenge springing to life in him. Imperatrix tensed, fist going to fly in response to whatever.

She squealed disgustedly from a tongue licking her hand.

"How revolting!"

"Take that, babe!" He taunted, dipping out the gym before she could incapacitate him in retaliation.

"Come back here, Insipid Rogue!"

The princess and glaive resumed their spirited skirmishing.


	13. Chapter 13

**Farsi**

 **Keyli doostet daaram** \- I love you very much.

 **Man ghasam mikhoram keh nemitoonam to ro bishtar az haal doost daishteh baash. Dar eiyn-e haal midoonam fardaa bishtar misheh** \- I swear I couldn't love you more than I do right now and yet I know I will tomorrow.

 **Har jaa negaah mik onam eshq-e to raa beh yaad mi aawaram. To donyaay-e man hasti** \- Everywhere I look I am reminded of your love. You are my world.

 **French**

 **Au revoir** \- Goodbye, until we meet again.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

" _Oh, dear lord! Are you pacing?! I can hear the gravel scraping against your heels."_ Ardyn blew air into the receiver. _"Do stop it. There is nothing to worry your gorgeous, little head over."_

Imperatrix rung her hand nervously, mouth absurdly dry and heart racing. She couldn't stop moving.

The binoculars before her were trained on the Disc of Cauthess, where airships, magitek soldiers, and specialized equipment were prepped to combat the Archaean. The chancellor was on one of those ships, monitoring the prince's movements through what was left of the ruins from Lunafreya's journey.

Why Ardyn was even onboard made no sense!

What was he gambling his life for? Dark amusement in watching a boy flail around?!

He held no influence or authority in the military. She would be more suited for the purpose than him with her rank as a commander.

The presence of an actual commodore to oversee the operation was at least a consolation, it would've been a double boon were Aranea in charge, but the formidable dragoon detested the MTs and couldn't stomach any jobs with them. Androids she could bare, but not the enhanced, soulless troopers.

Imperatrix failed to cope with them for the same reasons as the lancer, their fates elicited guilt, disgust, and sorrow from her. Especially when two others could have shared their fate…

" _Impera, stoppp!"_ The red-head wailed loudly into her headpiece.

"Gods dammit!" She recoiled from the assault on her ear, abruptly ceasing her pacing and pawing at her ear.

" _Language, my dear!"_ The chancellor tutted admonishingly.

"Quiet, Old Prude!" The princess ought to have cursed him out for yelling into her ear, but decided not to be entirely immature.

" _Testy, testy! Calm that fire and enjoy the show from Lestallum. It's sure to exceed Insomnia's."_

Imperatrix fixed the binoculars, magnifying the scene of floating airships, and wondered which contained her imp. "You will not…kill the prince, will you? I need him alive."

King Regis's dying wish replayed in her head.

Walking a different path with her enemy's son. How to do so, weighed on her.

" _As do I. My presence here is to ensure dear Noctis's survival."_

"Among other things I am sure." She gasped after feeling the ground shake.

The other people at the onlook were in varying states of panic, some running to the railing to look beyond for the source of the natural disaster, some running for their homes, and some running for their cars to escape.

" _And so it begins."_ Ardyn chuckled menacingly.

Tempesta and Nebula ran to the outlook, hanging over the ledge to gape at the rising meteor.

"I'm so recording this!" The fist fighter whipped out her phone, zooming in as much as the phone could. "Woah, look at the ships!"

She saw soldiers dropping from wires.

"Glad it's not us down there. Once was enough." Nebula leaned on his palm, digging into his coat for the light of the day.

Imperatrix balked at her retainers. "Did you two leave Nyx unaccompanied? You are supposed to be watching him!"

"He kept talking and complaining, I put him under. He's as out of it as the oracle." The gunman exhaled out smoke, flicking the bud in an agitated fashion. "The doctor will call us if either of them wakes."

"Put him under how?" The princess dared to ask, hoping Nebula hadn't overdosed the glaive with hospital drugs.

He wriggled one of his guns in response.

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Those tranquilizers wouldn't do lasting damage.

The gunman probably got tired of Nyx's uncooperation to get treated and shot him. The scarring needed a professional opinion this far past Alfred's original one, despite the glaive's nonchalance.

Painkillers appeared to be the only thing Nyx was willing to concede on with his abundant machismo. The wincing, headaches, and mental lapses would be lessened, and maybe the irritating sod would start behaving like a civilized individual and not a dog in heat.

Lunafreya hadn't opened her eyes, being labeled comatose and put under watch. Two weeks she'd been out of reach to the world. Whatever passed between her and Titan took its toll.

Would the oracle be changed when finally those determined blue eyes opened?

" _Impera, my dear, are you listening?"_ Ardyn questioned with the air of someone who knew they were being ignored and was pettily trying to snatch back the starlight.

"I apologize, I was not." She cringed, mind brought back to the distant scene of the Landforger hefting the meteor on his back while simultaneously striking the land.

The aftershocks of every punch could be felt all the way in Lestallum.

" _I asked if this is bringing up any unfortunate memories. Your breathing is decidedly uneven."_ There was no mischievousness in his voice, only the smooth understanding of someone well acquainted with the suffocating clutches of painful memories.

"Are you not afraid? To be so near…and so very reminded of your fragility?" Her words were jumbled and not entirely coherent as she gripped onto Nebula's free arm and he tilted his head at her.

The gunman shifted closer to the princess, offering silent comfort in addition to the verbal comfort she was receiving from the voice in her headset.

" _I stopped fearing divine wrath a long time ago. There is little that strikes fear in this old, blackened heart."_

"What does?"

" _I should think that answer obvious to you."_

"Enlighten me."

" _Why, the loss of you, Dearest Musa. I might finally go mad if ever your light fades again."_

Absentmindedly, Imperatrix squeezed harder on her retainer's bicep. An answer couldn't be mustered as the sky dusted red from the glow of imperial weaponry at work.

The princess took post at the binoculars.

Red beams of energy acted as leashes on Titan. Airships fired on him. All the weaponry did little to discontinue the god's roars and pounding fist.

The trembling ground made Imperatrix clasp onto the viewing glasses for balance, gulping fearfully at the explosions in the sky.

"Hoh! He's slapping the dreadnaughts out the air like they're flies!" Tempesta yelled, bracing herself on the ledge, phone still recording everything. She pumped her fist into the air. "Come on, you aerial whimps! Take him out!"

"Damn, I lost my cigarette…" Nebula complained, lazily crumpled on the ground and unwilling to struggle against unstable stone.

The imperials were the only ones foolish enough to still be at the outlook with the constant tremors. Everyone else had fled for safety.

Cracks were forming in various places.

The gunman scoped the area, mumbling to himself. "What are the chances of the hill collapsing?"

His acrobatics weren't the greatest, evacuating the princess out a cave-in would be complicated, but he would do whatever it took to keep her alive.

"Ardyn?!" Imperatrix cried, picking up the fallen headset and calling into it. When their was no reply, she checked her phone for connectivity.

The line became full of too much static for her to hear the chancellor's garbled words.

"Ardyn, I can't hear you!"

The call disconnected and her heart stopped.

A roar so loud and deep shattered glass, split the sky, and cracked the land. Buildings vibrated, tilted, or collapsed, pieces of earth jutted up, and cars sank below.

"Princess!" Nebula crawled over to Imperatrix, cradling her to his chest when she looked on the verge of hysteria. He was seconds away from picking her up and running.

Red was the sky. Gold was the god and meteor, a color so brilliant it blinded until it was no more.

The chaos ceased. The world thrummed with tense silence.

"Is it over? Did they defeat Titan?" Tempesta removed her helmet, pulling herself up onto the ledge again to see with her own eyes the disappearance of a legend. "No way…"

Volcanic looking land was on the horizon.

"So ends a god." Nebula stumbled up with the princess in his arms, also taking off his mask. He fixed his face into an approximation of softness. "Impera, it's over."

She looked from the missing disc to the city. "Lestallum wrecked and weakened…yet it stands. I am relieved."

A few braver folks ventured outside, bewildered and alarmed for the earthquake they'd suffered without cause.

Imperatrix lifted her phone, discomforted by the lack of signal.

There was no fleet in the sky.

What happened to all those soldiers? Were they alive?!

Her worried multiplied exponentially.

"Calm yourself, Imp. The chancellor slips death's grasp like no other." The gunman meant to swipe off the princess's tears, but he accidentally poked her in the eye.

"Nebula!" She whimpered, covering the afflicted area.

"Ehh, my apologies, Your Highness…" He bowed his head.

"Someone or something is always trying to maim me..." A tiny pout came upon her face before it quirked to an exasperated smile. "Let us check on the hospital."

At least two of her worries could be assuaged.

The hospital stood intact, electricity down and operating on limited back-up generators. New patients were being brought in and the lobby was a sea of commotion.

The imperials bypassed the general populace, taking the stairs to the upper floors. Each one of them cursed the long flight of stairs they'd gone up to reach the private sector.

Like the lower floors, the lights were out. Nurses and doctors shuffled carefully through the darkness, running periodic checks on the patients.

"Look at this bastard! He slept through an earthquake." Tempesta kicked at the bed Nyx was tucked into.

The glaive drooled onto the pillow, sleep undisturbed.

"Not surprising when one of you tranquilized him." Imperatrix droned with a deadened expression at Nebula. She set the glaive's arm on top of his chest, tracing her fingers over his bandages.

The urge to caress his face as she had in the canyon, was strong. Nyx wasn't so annoying when he was asleep.

"He was being a menace." The gunman defended himself, slouching onto the railing at the end of the bed. "I did the doctors a favor."

"Or increased the hospital bill." The princess grumbled, moving her attention to the oracle next.

Where Nyx looked dorkishly peaceful, Lunafreya appeared locked in a grimace of torment.

Was she in tune with the land's pain, with the Archaean's demise?

"Keep watch over them. I wish to see the power plant." Imperatrix ordered.

"Be vigilant, Your Highness. Lucians could be anywhere in the city." Nebula sank to the floor, getting comfortable enough to withdraw his handheld game console from his coat.

"Don't go getting kidnapped, Shitty Princess. Nobody's in the mood for that nonsense." Tempesta wriggled her fingers expectantly at her brother.

He wordlessly handed her a second console and she flopped next to him, cackling in anticipation for the electronic battle they would have.

"And you two refrain from harming our guests."

"More like freeloaders." The fist fighter muttered belligerently.

Imperatrix didn't comment, lest she begin fretting over bank accounts.

The urge for useful activity brought the princess to the Exineris Power Plant. She'd come to inquire about the state of the generator and would offer assistance if needed.

The women in charge of the industry looked too busy for chatting, running around in their jumpsuits with cords, cables, and all kinds of equipment in hand.

A rookie engineer like herself wouldn't couldn't contribute anything. Basic airship maintenance didn't translate to citywide wiring.

It was Saxham all over…

Uselessness didn't sit well with Imperatrix.

"Wait a moment…it is that girl." The princess focused less on the Exineris woman and more on the teenage girl standing out in her grungy, punk-rock clothes. "What is she doing here?"

The brunette in a red skirt talked animatedly with one of the workers. The words were lost at this distance, but the result of the conversation left the girl sulking with a massive pout and slump in posture as she was sent off from the plant.

"Why are you not indoors, Little Miss?" Imperatrix voiced once she was near.

The girl jumped, a childish noise of shock belting out from behind her horrified expression. She looked like a delinquent caught red-handed.

"Will your family not worry for you?"

"Nope, nope, not at all!" The answer was choppy and hasty, a sure sign of guilt. Her keychains jingled from her sporadic fidgeting, which was laughed off with thick exaggeration. "They totally trust me. I'm practically an adult!"

"You must have snuck out the hotel." Imperatrix surmised.

She'd seen the girl with a younger boy and an elder, possibly the teenager's brother and grandfather. Their looks had been critical and distrustful upon her arrival to the Leville Hotel. She wouldn't have paid it any mind if they'd honed in on Tempesta and Nebula, their masks naturally drew stares, but went unquestioned out of politeness. People wore stranger things in this day and age.

Oddly, the trio were fixated on her.

Lestallum was steadfast Lucis territory and many immigrants had migrated to the city. The princess and her retinue took this into consideration, dressing in clothing closer to what a hunter might wear. To the unaware they looked no different than any other traveller.

Could they have made a mistake entering the hotel in their simple disguise? Should they have dressed more appropriately for the higher-end hotel?

It did seem suspicious for hunters to be able to afford two rooms at the Leville…

"Might I ask your name, Little Miss? We have passed one another quite frequently." The princess smiled kindly as dread, then embarrassment zipped swiftly over the girl.

Whoever the brunette was, she'd been following Imperatrix for some reason. Her sneaking capabilities were so terrible, the princess had to stop Nebula from cornering the girl for an interrogation, and insisted he ignore the snooping.

One as young, and frankly, idiotic…couldn't be a high-risk threat.

Shades and hoodies worn regardless of temperature were hallmarks of cliche films and an utter disgrace to real life espionage.

"Um, it's polite to give a name before asking for one." The brunette gained a semblance of poise, wearily studying Imperatrix with too practiced of an eye, as if she knew danger stood before her.

"Yes, manners are a trademark of civilized conversation." The princess offered her hand in the western custom of a handshake upon introduction. "I am called Empress, but Em shall suffice. And you, young lady?"

Hesitantly a hand clasped over hers, brown, dove-eyes fluttered up at Imperatrix. "Iris."

"Like the flower? How pretty." She giggled, whispering conspiratorially. "Did you know, before the sylleblossoms became popular, irises were closely linked to Tenebraen royalty? People believed the flowers could carry messages to the gods. What could be a more perfect flower for the divine heralds?"

"No way. That's so cool!" Iris was enthralled by the tidbit of history, beaming in the way of an innocent with the power to steer away clouds of grim adulthood. "You're pretty knowledgeable, huh?"

"It goes hand in hand with travel."

"What brings you to Lestallum then?" The teenager's question was common and were it not for odd twinge in her voice and abrupt breaking of their clasped hands, someone else might've overlooked the unsubtle prying and just played along.

"Business that has concluded. I shall be leaving soon."

"And your friends? Are they okay? They're usually with you."

So young and foolhardy.

It was clear the girl knew on some level they weren't the average passerby.

Did Iris know they were imperial?

Was her identity as crown princess exposed? It would explain the following and now the probing.

"They are well. I simply could not sit still and left them to their own devices." Imperatrix tilted her head at the darkening of the sky and faulty flickering of city lights. "There was not…much for me to do…"

The princess wasn't responsible for this…was she?

Another city ruined…

"Em, hey!" Iris waved her hand in front of the woman's face, jingling bracelets snapping her out of the depressive train. "You kinda zoned out. It's getting dark, you should head back to the Leville."

"Those should be my words, young lady. Your grandfather is likely very worried."

The teenager made another startled noise, ducking her head shyly at the princess's sterness. "Y-Yeah, he probably is…"

"If you do not mind, I would like to escort you home."

"Oh, oh!" She was taken off guard by the considerate offer. "You don't have to do that!"

"Yet, I would like to. A girl your age should not walk home, alone in the dark. Not after the city has experienced an earthquake." Imperatrix shook her head, foot tapping impatiently. "Honestly, you should not have been out in the first place."

The girl wilted under the admonishment, obediently walking apace with the older woman.

The two didn't speak as life came to Lestallum from the power plant giving full power again. Once or twice, Imperatrix called or stopped Iris from tripping over fallen debris in her distraction of watching other people mill around, clean up damage, or complain.

"Do you have younger siblings?" The teenager skipped over a pipe at the princess's warning.

"What gave it away?" Imperatrix checked her phone.

Still no signal.

"The way you lectured me reminded me of my older brother." Iris lowered her voice, imitating a deep rumble and face scrunching into a serious expression. "'Stay out of trouble, Iris', 'it's too dangerous for you to come with me, Iris', 'I'm in charge now, which means you gotta listen to me, Missy'." She pouted, arms flying up in frustration. "I know he means well, but Gladdy is sooo overbearing! The big bear!"

They came upon their destination.

"It is an elder sibling's prerogative to be so."

Added to the pout was puffed cheeks and stubborn kicks to the ground.

"As spirited as you are, his overbalance is apropos." Imperatrix wryly appraised the perky teenager.

A miniature Lunafreya, if the oracle weren't so periodically frosty.

"Nah-uh! I've got a good head on my shoulders." Iris smiled confidently, only to squeak from a boy yelling for her on the balcony of a hotel room. She laughed nervously and waved at the princess. "I gotta go. Thanks for walking me, Em. You're…nicer than I thought."

Imperatrix narrowed her eyes once the girl was gone.

Who was Iris?

The princess entered her own room, sitting on one of the couches and slouching in it. She switched on her phone, breath hitching at the return of bars. Without hesitation, Ardyn's number was input.

She teared up at the familiar musical cadence of his voice. "You're alive!"

" _But of course and I've even picked up some new friends."_ There were a lot inaudible protests in the background. _"You're all so lively. The wonders of youth!"_

Imperatrix took an educated guess as to who the company was. "Did you take Prince Noctis into custody?"

" _More like safekeeping. A scorching death awaited them otherwise."_ His voice became distant as he addressed the other party. _"Why, grant you safe passage, just as I said."_

She listened to him converse with the other the other members of the prince's retinue.

" _Come now. Is it fair to begrudge a man the circumstance of his birth?"_

If she remembered correctly, the Caelums were always accompanied by a sworn-shield and a sworn-sword, similar to how the imperial retainer system worked. The shield and sword were members of noble families that served the Lucian royal family for generations.

What were those family names again?

" _This instant? It's a long way down. Perhaps the army could break your fall."_ Ardyn chuckled snidely. _"Or perhaps, you could simply sit back and enjoy the ride. You needn't worry, you're in good hands with me."_

Whatever responses the chancellor received annoyed him greatly from the increased frequency of snarky barbs he traded. Hearing him ruffled for a change extracted a laughing fit from Imperatrix.

" _If you'll excuse me, boys. I've been distracted long enough from urgent business. We can't all be so carefree."_ Things were quiet on Ardyn's side until he sighed dramatically. _"I'm almost tempted to toss them out like they wanted."_

"It has been so long since I have heard you vexed from conversation alone. Your pretenses crumble before a prince and his subjects?" Imperatrix switched the audio to her headset, arm numb from holding the phone and stomach clenching from her faded laughter. She laid bunched up on the one-seater with her head over the armrest and legs dangling over the other side. "Your infinite patience is not so infinite, Imperial Chancellor."

" _Lets just say I've had my fill of angsty adolescents. Four boys as traveling companions for days is a recipe for exhaustion."_

"Where are you taking them?"

" _Near the chocobo post."_ At her disgusted scoff, Ardyn responded with a tut. _"Now, now, don't be like that, Dearest. They've lost their precious Regalia. The chocobos are their only method of transportation."_

"Oh, so there is an earnest reason. Thank goodness for that." She rolled her eyes, voice oozing sarcasm.

" _We're going to have to address this phobia of yours some day soon, Impera. Chocobos are splendid and I won't stand for you bullying them."_

"No, they are not! Eastern horses are better." The princess argued.

She would never trust the fluffballs after one threw her off and she almost died in a stampede of frightened chocobos.

The horses native to the desert cities of Persia and Egypt were said to be descended from the Aithon, the flaming horses in service to Ifrit. To the north and south of the capital were the snow cities of Fellfin and Daneinar which boasted the breeds descended from the Sleipnir, steeds of Odin, the battle god.

Why care for wailing birds when there were resplendent chargers available?

" _My mood isn't gregarious enough for this ongoing debate. We shall agree to disagree."_ Ardyn certainly sounded tired, a strange thing to associate with the perpetual eccentric bouncing with malicious energy. The man never seemed to sleep, always working or terrorizing someone.

There were the irregular occasions, hidden from the world in her bedroom, Imperatrix glimpsed the chancellor asleep. These were treasured instances where she could tenderly caress him and study him to her heart's content without any of the red-head's theatrics or flirtations.

When Ardyn did sleep, he did so like a man bereft of it, knocked out for an entire day or more. If ever there was a time to prank him, it was during this time. Unfortunately, everyone learned the hard way that taking advantage of the chancellor's snoozes was a surefire way to humiliation's lane.

He wasn't an imp for nothing, his title as Grandmaster of Pranks in the royal household had been well earned. Her father and Nebula didn't stand a chance against Ardyn.

" _How fares Lestallum?"_ The chancellor asked after a beat of silence.

"It stands. They will require relief efforts."

" _I'll pass that along to the commodore."_

Imperatrix craned her neck up at the sound of the door opening and in waltzed Tempesta with bags of food. The fist fighter hissed when Pryna growled at the girl's approach.

"Stupid mutt, freeloading just like your master! Shouldn't even bother feeding you."

A bag of dog food was unceremoniously dumped in front of the beast.

"Do be careful. We do not need the bag bursting open." The princess said with an eye roll for how feral every interaction was between Tempesta and the dogs.

Pryna had been moody ever since Lunafreya went comatose, biting and snapping at everyone. Umbra was the easier of the two, but he'd run off a day ago. Explaining his disappearance to his owner was sure to be a disaster.

"Why do we gotta babysit so much?! Sheesh!" The fist fighter yanked off her helmet, plopping down on the couch with a burger halfway into her mouth. She distributed the rest of the food on the table. "I did not sign up for this."

"Neither did I, my friend." The princess caught a bag thrown to her, opening it to reveal a bunch of french fires.

Ardyn cooed in her ear. _"Aww, are your charges exhausting you, too? One of them can't be that good of company for a minx like you."_

Imperatrix coughed out the fry she'd been chewing, setting the bag on the floor. Tempesta looked up from her second burger.

"Ugh, are you talking to Dandy? Save the dirty talk for after dinner." She grumbled with a smirk, foot kicking at the princess's chair. "I wanna keep my food down."

"I was under the impression you had no issue listening to us. You always seem to be banging on doors or bursting through them."

The fist fighter hooted like a deranged child, slapping her legs in tune with her mirth.

"I am in such awful company!" Imperatrix groaned from her retainer sitting right on her stomach and still laughing out her lungs.

" _Aren't you always, my dear? It's how you have fun."_ Ardyn teased.

"You are the absolute worst out of them all then."

He hummed in agreement. _"And together we have the most fun."_

"When you are not double-crossing me."

" _Water under the bridge, Dearest. I am on my best behavior for you."_

"How long will that last, I wonder?" At Tempesta's weighty bounces on her stomach, Imperatrix knew she needed to end the call. "Ardyn, I must go. A cat demands my attention."

" _Ah, the dear Thundercat is stealing you from me? I shall't keep you then, those punches are unpleasant."_

The princess glanced up, a blush entering her cheeks from the blonde's fanged grin making the freckles across her face stand out.

Her parting words to the chancellor were spoken in another language to stay private. "Keyli doostet daaram, Ardyn."

" _Man ghasam mikhoram keh nemitoonam to ro bishtar az haal doost daishteh baash. Dar eiyn-e haal midoonam fardaa bishtar misheh."_ He took a shaky breath and Imperatrix ardently wished the distance was no more then a few feet for her to embrace him. _"Har jaa negaah mik onam eshq-e to raa beh yaad mi aawaram. To donyaay-e man hasti, Musa."_

"It is not fair that you speak better than I! How am I to respond as beautifully poetic as that? The words escape me…"

Her heart would burst from the fluttering of thousands of wings, the firing of thousands of arrows, and the unveiling of thousands of flames.

Gods! How muted and detached she'd become that falling back into their tide brought forth such surges of emotion!

" _I had to return the sweet farewell you uttered to me, Impera. I swear, I very nearly turned around, joined you on the bed, and buried myself in you with no intention of ever resurfacing."_ Ardyn growled huskily.

"Okay! you two gotta stop!" Tempesta threw up her arms at the return to English. She yanked the headpiece from the princess's ear, shouting into it. "Bye, Ardyn! I'll make sure to put out the fire you started in Impera!"

A click and the fist fighter cut the call.

The princess wasn't sure whether to laugh or scream.

Her retainers did whatever they wanted.

"So, you and the red fop?" The fist fighter crossed her arms and legs, making herself comfortable on Imperatrix's stomach with no concern for her liege's groans. Her eyebrows hunched down and sky-blue eyes analyzed her best friend similar to how Nebula would. "Are you two on again or were you just being needy?"

"You are one to talk…" She muttered, shifting to get a modicum of comfort from their unorthodox sitting arrangement.

The blonde huffed, still waiting for an answer.

"I do not engage in flings."

"Okay." Just like that, Tempesta dropped the serious air.

"Okay?" Extreme skepticism wafted off the princess.

Were was the teasing? The inappropriate sexual remarks?

Tempesta was the peverted Besithia. No way was Imperatrix getting out of this conversation without some kind of mortification.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it. This means I don't gotta deal with a depressed, shitty princess. You were miserable for so long, which made me miserable, and that's not cool!"

Imperatrix smiled, springing up to embrace a surprised blonde. "Oh, my Darling! You can be so sweet when you wish to be!"

"Haha, I'm your favorite, right? Better than Neb?" She returned the hug with bruising strength.

"You both have your charms." The princess's expression teetered between smiling and grimacing, rubbing her retainer's back soothingly.

"Heh! I'm your favorite, you said it!" Tempesta decided on her own, pumping her fist at an invisible foe. "Take that, ya Geezer!"

Imperatrix sighed fondly at the younger Besithia's jubilation, laying back on the couch as the other girl bounced around the room, bragging nonstop to an imaginary elder brother.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Does it have to keep raining?! This is ridiculous!" Nyx cursed, wading through dirt and tugging the hood of his uniform down further to protect his eyes.

Little good it did when the rain seemed to fly unnaturally in all directions, inhibiting visibility and making travel through the canyon undeniably intolerable.

It felt like his life was one crazy event after another! Right after facing one god they were on track to face a second.

Somebody give him a break!

Ramuh, the God of Storm was the oracle's target for the next portion of her pilgrimage.

Everyone's low moods were causing them to reconsider ever getting involved with Lunafreya's magical quest.

"I am in agreement with Nyx. Is there any way to stop the rain?" Imperatrix hissed at how drenched her cloak was and how it weighed down her movements.

The goggles she borrowed from Nebula allowed the princess to see how miserable Lunafreya was in her own soggy coat, wiping furiously at her eyes to keep Pryna, their guide, in sight.

"The Fulgurian is testing us!" She warned just as a strong gust of wind almost blew her off to the side.

"Princess, get down!" Nebula tackled Imperatrix to the ground as a bolt of lightning hit the trench, launching rubble into the air.

Lunafreya saved her dog from being crushed, falling onto her bottom from the weight and missing another batch of falling rocks.

"Why do they have to try and kill us?!" Nyx grouched once the danger passed, scratching at his red face. "All this rain is wrecking my ointment."

Thank goodness for the painkillers muting the ache in his arm and leg. This icy weather was going straight to his bones, creaking joints feeling like he was in his late forties and not early thirties.

"What I wouldn't give to be Tempy, lucky pest." The gunman helped the princess to her feet.

"Where'd she disappear to? It's so quiet without her." The glaive prodded the two imperials.

Seeing the loudmouth drive off on the motorcycle instead of joining them on the Setzer had been a surprise. Even more surprising was the reveal that he'd slept through an earthquake.

His Kingsglaive conditioning was going right out the window. How sad…

"A personal quest." The princess left it at that.

"Like a vacation? Wow, don't your employees have it good?" He jested, elbowing the stiff gunman. "Can't remember the last time I got vacation days."

"Proof that Nephilim are superior to Lucians." Nebula's casual movement towards a holster had the fellow male leaping away from him. "Have I not told you, no touching?"

"He struggles with the concept of personal space." Imperatrix snarked.

"Shall I teach him a lesson, Your Highness?"

Nyx crossed his arms in a negative signal. "Don't gang up on me!"

Thunder boomed in the distance, jolting the group into focus.

"I believe that was a notice to move on." Lunafreya's hand fisted into Pryna's floating fur, reluctantly allowing the dog out of her embrace to lead them once more.

The oracle's magic illuminated the way and the others followed her.

It had been daylight when they began traversing the path of the Stormsender, but it quickly became misty black, droplets pelting down, lighting streaking in the sky, and thunder hammering the ground.

The gods wouldn't be making this particular pilgrimage easy.

Lunafreya prayed Noctis's tests weren't harsher.

She would gladly face the difficult trials for him, leaving only the task of him receiving the blessings, but that wasn't the way of the world.

The Landforger's trial proved that the covenants would have calamitous consequences for all involved. The oracle felt deeply guilty and sorrowful upon awakening to the damage done to Lestallum.

The city was a minor casualty in the grand scheme of things, just like Insomnia, but…the reality of what she was doing in the name of duty was getting to her.

Insomnia and Lestallum…so much destruction. It left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Was she becoming like the imperials? Walked path leaving ruination with every step?

"Hey man, why don't we trade? I'll take the biker mask, you get some air." Nyx bargained, grin slipping when his foot sank into the ground and he almost tripped. "Motherfu—"

"Stop running your mouth, and focus!" Nebula yanked the glaive out of the sinkhole, and then shoved him forward. "How in the world did the princess put up with you for so long?"

"Must've been my winning personality and good looks." At the responding long sigh, He barked a laugh. "Don't deny it, Impera."

"Stop addressing her like that!"

"Or what?"

Nebula leveled a gun at the glaive, who had his swords out just as fast.

"That's getting old." Nyx taunted, sneering vehemently. "And I outta kick your ass for shooting me at the hospital!"

"You two are going to do this? Here? In the middle of a storm?" Imperatrix's expression was hidden by the goggles and mouth-covering of the cape, but her tone oozed disdain and impatience.

"Oh, come off it, Princess! The snark coming from you these last days has been off the charts!" The glaive rounded on her, bending near her face. "You wouldn't be so strung if you'd let me fu—"

She struck him in the face before he could finish his sentence and embarrass her in front of an audience. "Be silent!"

It was like a snowball effect from there.

The storm grew progressively worse, as did the tempers of the group. Nyx swung at Imperatrix, fist intercepted by Nebula, which led to them boxing over her, and the princess shouting for them to stop.

"What in the world has come over them?" Lunafreya gaped at the fight, trudging backwards to put an end to the skirmish.

Once she neared them, the oracle stumbled as the rainfall felt like drills penetrating her skin and something choked full of enmity assaulted her senses. Vision became hazy, hearing became filtered, and she wasn't herself.

Pryna's fearful barks went ignored by her master.

"I'm so sick of you damned Niffs! It's your fault I've lost two homes and too many people to count!" Nyx barreled into Nebula, sending them to the muddy ground. His fists cracked against the helmet, but he was numb to the pain.

His home, his family, his career, his self-worth, all gone because of them!

He'd never tease or wrestle with his sister again. Never go hunting with his dad or craft things with his grandpa. Never get beers with Crowe and Pelna. Never get to show up the other pricks during training and listen to the captain chide everyone for constantly losing to the resident hero.

Gone…

So much of what he knew was gone!

The gunman did what he did best, his signature weapon went off, but missed blowing off the glaive's head from the princess kicking the man off.

"I am sick to death of you hypocritical Lucians! We have lost much to you as well!" Imperatrix screamed. "How many thousands of us have you killed with magic before we evened the playing field?!"

She'd seen countless soldiers mowed down by glaives because regular weapons were nothing compared to bolts of lighting, bombs of fire, spearing icicles. Their meager blows meant nothing when the enemy could cast healing spells. For every one the imperials took out, the Lucians took out twenty!

It was a battle of quality versus quantity.

"You wanna go again, Princess?! I'm all for it!" Nyx shifted his aggressive swings to the woman, forcing her to draw her blade from the thigh strapping.

"I will grind you to dust, you upstart!"

Steel clashed, splitting water and ringing in tune with the symphony of maelstrom.

"Stop acting like I disgust you! I can freaking tell you want me, you uptight, frigid, lying princess!"

"Not every woman need bow to your desires! You are an abhorrent, narcissistic, brazen scum!"

Their clashing heightened.

Imperatrix screeched as a snippet of her hair was sliced off from Nyx's sword missing her face. Her hand grasped at air, white strands slipping through her fingers into the dirty ground. She ground her teeth, breath quickening.

"It's hair, it's not that serious! My jaw on the other hand, might be." The glaive tapped the flat side of the short sword on his shoulder, not understanding why the princess was getting so worked up.

"Get away from her!" Nebula fired on the man, following up with a kick when the shot only grazed.

"Chill out, psycho! Why are you actually using bullets?!" He blundered through his defensive techniques against the unusual gun and martial arts combination.

"Why are you still alive?!" The gunman countered. "Die and stop bothering us with your presence!"

The three yelled and fought in the pouring rain, every grievance coming to light and worsening the situation.

Imperatrix was unprepared for the surprise attack from Lunafreya, tripping backwards to avoid the staff. She steadied herself by stabbing the saber into the ground and kicking the girl out of range.

"You wish to lay hands on me as well?!"

"As does half the world!" The oracle sprung up, staff twirling in strikes.

The novice bombardment was easily repelled by the princess, further angering the younger blonde and making her lunges sloppier.

Males and females battled.

Pryna barked and barked at the humans enthralled by the storm. Ramuh's challenge had begun before they knew it.

"You lying, little brat! I have given you chance after chance, yet you harm me still!" Imperatrix raged, slapping Lunafreya to the floor after tiring of the feeble tactics.

Pathetic! Had she not trained the girl to do better?!

It was the oracle who requested a teacher and she dared to perform so disappointingly?! At this rate, an actual polearm was out of the question!

Imperatrix should send the nuisance home to her brother. Lunafreya had no place in this ugly, hard world.

"You deserve no loyalty from me. All of Niflheim should burn to the ground, a reflection of those it's conquered!" The oracle spewed out hatefully, looking as feral as dog with mud marring her pure features and clothing.

"And there it is. Finally, your truth has manifested!"

Lunafreya blinked, a fragment of reasoning trickling into her mind.

Why had she said that to Imperatrix? It was so vile…not only to the princess, but to every innocent person born on the continent she also lived on.

As much as she disliked acknowledging it, she was also a Nephilim, a foreigner to every person that lived in the Lucian land. The distinction of oracle lineage was all that absolved Tenebrae of the usual bigoted contempt for easterners.

"Listen here." Lunafreya flinched at Imperatrix's full glare from the woman removing her goggles. "Your speck of a country is part of Niflheim and has been since the old Lucian Kings deserted you. Who has been aiding and protecting Tenebrae all these years? Who has safeguarded the Holy City?!"

The princess stomped her foot, spraying more mud on the girl.

"You, betrayed us!"

"I-Impera—" The oracle shook her head, opposing the urge to argue back. She wouldn't lose her mind again to the spell.

"How dare you allow those Caelums into our territory after what they did to my mother and I! Traitors! Golden-faced, silver-tongued traitors!"

She trembled at the accusations and the unnatural violet glow to Imperatrix's eyes. "Regis would never have condoned that…"

Lunafreya knew of what the princess spoke.

A secret mission had been undertaken to kill the emperor, putting an end to the war of all wars.

Lucian soldiers attacked the villa Iedolas was meant to be visiting, killing all occupants and fleeing when realizing their true target hadn't been present. The word of Imperatrix, the only survivor of the attack, was the singular piece of incriminating evidence.

Queen Sylva Nox Fleuret wasn't of a mind to believe such an atrocity. Her heart had gone out to the traumatized and semi-orphaned child, volunteering the healing services of their family to the grieving emperor.

If Iedolas had just accepted the hand, Noctis could've been spared a similar ambush that rendered him paralyzed from Starscourge.

"Yes, because you know Regis and Noctis so well! Your divinity sees all." The princess badgered, rain mixing with tears.

"Imperatrix…there is something wrong. You are not yourself." Lunafreya registered more of the heavy enchantment once Pryna trotted over to lick her face. "I can…fix this…"

Her vision cleared, heart lifted, and shame clawed at her.

Six forgive the horrible things she'd said and done under this trial!

"I will be fooled by that angelic face no more."

"Please, I did not mean…" The oracle hesitated to reach out with her healing hands.

That was a lie…

Ugly and hurtful, a side locked away in the recesses of the human heart. Truth had poured from her lips and she had to live with that, live with the memory of her viciousness.

"You meant every word! I am not blind. It is hatred I always garner, despite my best efforts." Imperatrix exhaled brokenly, trembling hands raising her sword. The negative energy consumed her. "Nebula, to me!"

The gunman appeared obediently by his liege's side, weapons smoking.

"It is us against them."

"Exactly how it has always been, Impera." He widened his stance, same wickedness radiating off him. "I will not allow a single one of them to hurt you."

"Fancy that, the killer's got a soft spot." Nyx took position in front of Lunafreya. He scowled at Imperatrix. "Perfect pairing for the ice princess."

"No, no! We must all stop!" The oracle pleaded at the three gearing up for another bloody conflict.

"Stand back, Your Highness. I'll protect you from these Niffs." The glaive pushed the girl behind him. "I'll die before they take someone else from me!"

The hood attachment made him appear as a death-dealer with his crazed violet eyes and crackling aura.

Battle commenced with the roaring of thunder all around, drowning out Lunafreya's pleas and locking the members in their worst urges, their worst memories.

The oracle cradled her head as the magic sought to entrap her, it wouldn't give up until they all destroyed themselves. Unbidden thoughts of Tenebrae's plunder, her mother's death, Ravus's distance, Regis's death, and her imprisonment swamped her mind to the point of suffocation.

Uncontrollable anger demanded release.

"I-I must r-resist!" She dug her fingers into skin, pain a deterrent to the spell. "Great Ramuh, I shall not be controlled!"

The oracle grabbed her staff and marched up to her feuding companions. Magic bursted out with the slam of the staff into the ground. The threw flew onto their backsides, vulnerable before Lunafreya.

"You are all enthralled! Look past shattered sight for we are not enemies, we are frie—" She wavered, the word was appropriate for the speech, but Lunafreya couldn't say the word yet. "We are comrades! Open your eyes from this spell!"

Golden light filled the area, overpowering the flashing lighting and booming thunder.

The rain softened.

"I do not…feel well…" Imperatrix swayed, hands hiding her face from the world.

What had come over her?

"What's going on?" Nyx mumbled, tossing off his hood. Color flickered from scarlet to blue in his orbs.

"More magic bullshit…" Nebula's visor hid his face, but he too experienced the change, grip loosening on the guns.

"Yes!" Lunafreya cried in relief at their passivity. "We are not enemies."

A song flowed from her heart, and now knowing their importance, the oracle gave in to instinct, freely singing.

Raindrops became falling stars of light, landing on the four and healing their wounds inflicted in error. The negative energy transformed to sweetness, blanketing everyone in warmth.

"This feels akin to a lullaby…" The princess blinked rapidly to forestall her misty eyes expelling droplets. She hugged herself, rejoicing in the peppered kisses of light touching her. "This form of magic…is not so bad…"

How could she have been so cruel to Nyx and Lunafreya? How unkind and foul she'd behaved!

Her mother would be ashamed.

Valeria, no…

Maneli of Persia followed a kinder mindset and continued those lessons even after lifting the veil of her homeland to convert to the ways of her spouse. She instilled kindness in her daughter.

If anyone slapped her on the cheek, Imperatrix was to turn to them, the other also. To love her enemies, to do good to those who hated her, bless those who cursed her, pray for those who abused her. As she wished others would do to her, she did so to them.

Lunafreya deceived her, endangered her, and mistrusted her. All wrongs.

Nyx challenged her, disrespected her, and belittled her. More wrongs.

But Imperatrix knew better…

Compassion and patience were needed to terminate their conflicts. She would do what she always did, take the first step towards healing.

"Woah, what's up?! Is this your new way of attacking?!" Nyx sort of flailed, flummoxed by the princess's cheek laying on his chest, hands fisting into his coat, scent filling his nostrils, and tenderness hitting him in the gut.

Hot and cold to the extreme!

"No, Nyx." Imperatrix sniveled, heart pounding uncomfortably for the rawness of the moment with this man she'd hardly known in the span of a falling meteor. "I am so sorry for everything you have endured."

Galahd and Insomnia, would that she could, the princess would raise them back to their glory, all lives intact.

"That's not…none of that is your fault!" As much as he didn't want to, the glaive pulled the woman off his chest, gripping her face to look him in the eye. "I blamed you at first, but I know that's not right. I don't hate you, Impera!"

"You do not?" She asked tearfully. "You have every right to."

"How could anyone hate _you_?" Nyx grinned confidently. "You're too wimpy to hate. _Freaking crybaby_!"

Imperatrix glared weakly. " _Horrible fiend_."

He chuckled and let her leave his hold. The princess clasped her retainer's hand next, giving him a benevolent, grateful smile.

Words weren't needed between them, the clutch of two friends was speech enough. A relief, a reminder of the lengths they would go for the other.

As Lunafreya's song came to an end, Imperatrix approached her. The oracle wobbled, faintish. She was caught by the shoulders and straightened by the princess.

"Lunafreya…" Soliloquies wanted to flow from Imperatrix, but this wasn't the time or place. "We have said much, the words came from depths of darkness and were buried truths. I ask that we find a way to move forward."

"How do we do that? Years and years…" She abstained from stoicism, acknowledging her unfamiliarity with communicating with others. "I-I have…had all this festering inside. I do not know…how to be rid of it."

"By learning to forgive those who seek your forgiveness." Imperatrix raised her hand peacefully, waiting for another to join it. "I ask for yours. For all the years you have spent alone, cold, and empty. A prisoner in your own home. I wish to heal the empire's stigma on you."

Lunafreya sucked in a breath, touching the spot above her chest where the lunar necklace laid. Her first genuine gift in years, the first measure of kindness since she'd forgotten what it was.

"I want to give it. I do, but I think…I need time." She reached out, clasping the hand. "Time and patience, for I am young and foolish, novel to the ways of interaction."

"Foolish you may be, but wise is your heart. We shall work towards it together."

The shroud lifted, horrible storm and noise receding. The clouds drew back, sun illuminating the canyon and banishing the mist. A pathway loomed before the group.

Something in the distance glowed.

"Now that we've all hugged it out, lets get a move on." Nyx dropped his arms on both princess's shoulders, hugging them into his sides. "Captain's orders, ladies."

"When did you become a captain?" Imperatrix went with the pull forward.

"When I beat Titus Drautos, that's when." He bragged, craning his head to smirk at Nebula behind them. "Hear that? I beat Glauca!"

"You and an army." The gunman corrected.

"Screw off, Gunslinger. I owned him my own!"

"The last great victory you'll have."

"You're next on my list to beat down."

"I see what you two fought about." The princess sighed good-naturedly, rolling her shoulders. "May you let go, Nyx? The weight is a discomfort to my neck."

"Suck it up." The glaive rebuffed flippantly with a tug on Imperatrix to bring her even closer into the fold. "You don't hear Luna complaining, do you?"

The oracle was in fact blushing from the closeness, but said nothing, more interested in Pryna's muddied fur. She was getting used to Nyx's ways quicker than the others.

"What's that?" The man's arms slipped from the females.

He stepped ahead of them protectively.

"A glowing…tree." Nebula despondently fiddled with the functions in his visor, speeding through statistics. "Pardon me, a magical, glowing tree. It's like the Stonehenge."

"Then this is the holy site." Imperatrix went no further than a breath away from the flowers in the illogical garden situated at the end of a trail.

As the gunman stated, a pale, white tree stood in the middle of grass, flowers, and runic circles.

"This is where I must commune with Ramuh." Lunafreya answered, anxiously looking upon the others. "I do not know what awaits…maybe it is best you all leave."

What if there was a second test? Was she leading them into more danger?

"C'mon, kid. We don't got all day." Nyx nudged her forward, grinning without a care. "Come what may, the adults will take care of it."

She frowned at the double dig on her age.

"Go on. We are ready for whatever." The princess added supportively, hand moving to the hilt of her sword.

"Though, if you can save us a death match, it would be appreciated." Nebula groused.

Lunafreya gazed at the three, nodding her head with trust in their abilities. She entered the holy garden, kneeling before the tree and enacting the rite of awakening.

She held more confidence with her second singing of the song. Titan's forged covenant was encouragement for the strength of her voice.

Thunder hit the tree, starling the songstress to her bottom for the burning coming from her bangs. She quickly put the fire out, looking upward with a tinge of irritation.

The God of Lighting hovered above, cloaked figure clouding the sky.

The oracle hastened to her feet, mentally cringing for how many times she ended up in disarray before important figures. She would fix this tendency!

"Hail, Great God of Storm, Ramuh! I am blood of the oracle, come to seek your blessings."

The Fulgurian took her in with a calmness the Archaean hadn't. No visions flooded her mind.

How would he chose to communicate with her?

Ramuh raised his staff. Lunafreya flinched, but her apprehension was for naught. The Stormsender's lips moved in the verse of the gods, the Chosen Language.

He spoke of the trials to come and the grim fact that she wouldn't survive the ordeal. Titan's vision of her death had been averted, but ultimately her thread was thinning by the day, scissors just waiting to snip her fate.

His voice was deep and soothing as he talked, what a grandfather would sound like. It was that small comfort that gave Lunafreya the courage to respond.

She felt no resistance to the forecast, as long the future was preserved. Her duty would be done.

The god gave a rumble, alighting the sky and sparking lighting. The oracle gripped her staff harder to hide how skittish the casual display of overpowered magic made her.

Ramuh didn't even seem mildly aware of the disturbance he was causing with his rumbling and strokes to his beard.

The Astrals were unbelievable!

After some thought, the Fulgurian reached down for Lunafreya with gargantuan hand and it took every bit of mental fortitude not to scream or run. Pure electricity surged around the oracle, zapping right to the core of her being.

He'd chosen to forge the covenant.

Another piece of Lunafreya was lost, returning to its divine owners.

"Oh my god…" Nyx's hands ran all over his face, caught between rushing to help the poor girl turned into a human lighting rod, and staying the heck away from the old guy willing to electrocute people.

"Five gil says she faints." Nebula slouched, uninterested since there was no danger to the princess.

"Nebula!" Imperatrix tugged on his sleeve in chastisement.

"Ten, says she'll be upright." The glaive boldly claimed, sizing up the gunman with a dirty look.

"Bet's on." He agreed, tilting his head. "Ah, look! Fenestala bridge is falling down."

Lunafreya stumbled after being released.

Ramuh vanished into mist, mixing with the clouds.

"No! C'mon, kid, stand up!" Nyx wanted to win and he was over carrying the oracle.

Imperatrix scoffed at the males, already moving to catch the girl. Her assistance was unnecessary as Lunafreya held herself up on the staff. Pryna ran past the princess to circle around her master.

"Hah! Pay up, man." The glaive swaggered with an outstretched palm.

Nebula sighed, forking over the gil.

"Woah, you actually did it…" He stared at the coins.

"Yes, yee of little faith. I have _integrity_." The gunman took note of Nyx's unfamiliarity with the currency. "Did you even have the money to bet with?"

"Nope."

Nebula twitched.

"Hey, none of that! Don't be a sore loser!" The glaive waved his hand at the gun pointing in his direction.

"Don't play if you've no hand, Sir."

"That's half the fun."

"That is stupidity." The ace holstered his gun, body posture dismissive. "Her standards have dropped _significantly_."

Nyx knew what that statement meant. "Say that again, I dare you!"

The females were oblivious to the male squabble.

Imperatrix lent a hand to the oracle, helping her down from the tree. Lunafreya tensed, whipping around.

"Gentiana!" She called.

From behind the tree appeared the messenger, serene eyes closed and looking mythical in her beauty among the nature.

The princess didn't go with Lunafreya, keeping her distance from the woman. Gentiana set her on edge.

When those green mirrors first opened to view Imperatrix, there was a flash of something, hidden so swiftly maybe it was imagined. The overlaying destruction might have been the cause of the high messenger's appraisal, but she'd barely given a glance to Insomnia as they stood on the outskirts.

What was a wasted city to a higher being like her?

"Imperatrix, my task is finished." Lunafreya announced.

The omniscient woman had disappeared as mysteriously as she'd arrived.

"If I may, what did she want?"

The last meeting, Gentiana gave them guidance to Nyx. What was she guiding them towards this time?

The oracle's eyebrows furrowed. She laid a hand on the white bark, where a new rune stood out. "She wished for me to connect the trees."

The answer made no sense to the princess.

"We should return to the ship."

"Right." Lunafreya gave a final stroke to the rune.

So many mysteries.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Would you like to play? Nebula is in his own world." Imperatrix smiled genially at Nyx, beckoning him to join her at the table.

The gunman's video game noise filled the recreation room with screams and gunfire. Were anybody sitting next to him, they could hear the verbal shit-talk he was having with his girlfriend.

"What's the game?" Interested, the glaive sat across from the princess. He stared at the bright colored cards Imperatrix was in the middle of shuffling. "Those don't look like your typical suit deck."

"These are not those kinds of cards."

"Are they tarot cards?" He smirked. "Going to read my fortune? Is there love in it?"

"I do not dabble in that line. Holy Mother Church in Tenebrae would riot if I did." She rolled her eyes.

If anyone in her family was liable to wet their feet with black arts, it would be Euphemia. Imperatrix would nip that bud though. Comic books and other harmless diversions were fine, but tarot cards were instruments of the occult, things not to be associated with the royal family.

"Then what are they?"

"The game is called _Unus_ and played by discarding all cards in your hand to win."

"Sounds easy enough. Deal me in."

"Ah, but there are rules." Imperatrix held the deck out of reach when Nyx tried to take it. "Allow me to explain and demonstrate."

As a natural rogue, the glaive picked up quickly on the princess's lesson, shredding his cards with minimal mistakes in the first round. His biggest struggle came from differentiating the sixes and nines, getting a giggle out of Imperatrix. It was a common mistake. She did huff when he kicked her under the table for laughing at him.

Imperatrix won round one. The glaive called for a rematch and they settled into a nice pace of companionable card play.

They all were in better cheer after the conclusion of the day's events.

Lunafreya managed to stay lucid up to dinner's end, much to the relief of the resident "parents", who wouldn't have to carry her to bed. She retired to her room earlier to rest.

If her fainting spells were over, Nyx would hoot to the moon. The girl was finally getting some backbone and would stop being depressed over her weakness. Imperatrix's training regimes were paying off.

Tempesta hadn't returned from her quest and wasn't likely to for another day or more, leaving the ship less rowdy. The princess hoped the fist fighter would check in at some point, so she'd know if the girl hadn't been killed.

Honestly…she was reluctant to let her retainer go when she brought it up.

The person the younger Besithia wanted to see likely wasn't going to be receptive of her…not after Insomnia.

Imperatrix swore she'd hunt that man down if Tempesta returned harmed in any way. He'd already caused her misery. How dare he…

"Uh, babe…you're clenching your jaw pretty hard." Nyx pointed out, slapping a card down. "Unus!"

Imperatrix groaned at his impending victory, changing the color to red to throw him off. "Please do not call me 'babe', it is coarse."

"Okay, baby." Undeterred, he tossed the last card down, a red one. "I win!"

She sighed, adding her cards into the pile and maneuvering them into a neat collection. "Do not use pet names in reference to me. It is already improper for you to casually use my name, let alone my shortened one."

They weren't close enough for any of it! Why was he blazing through things with no consideration for the other person's pace?!

"Don't be a stick-in-the-mud, it's all harmless."

"Not from you."

The deck cracked against the table from the princess aligning the cards.

"What does that mean?"

"You know exactly what it means, Nyx."

He leaned over the table, closer to Imperatrix. She threw a card at his hand to distract him. Instinctively, the glaive slapped his palm over the sliding item to catch it.

"I want for us to be amicable. For all your nuisances, you are a good man." The princess managed to keep eye contact with him while she distributed cards, his satisfied grin for once didn't miff her. "Cease your advances, they are not welcome."

Too fast, he moved too fast!

Touching her when they barely knew each other was the height of improper! Things would've gotten out of hand on the roof if she'd lingered a moment longer.

"That started out good, and then went wrong." The glaive chortled, looking over his new hand.

"Please take this seriously." The princess flipped the top card on the deck, laying it on the table as the starter.

A wild card…

"Since I won the last round, I'll set the color." Nyx put down a blue two. "Tell me why."

The abrupt demand threw her off.

"You know, I do not owe you an explanation." She shook her head in exasperation. "When a woman tells you she does not like your approach, as a gentleman, you should stop. Are you not a knight to Lady Lunafreya? Chivalry is expected."

Nyx soured, nodding grudgingly. "I get all that."

Hopes of finally getting through to that wild, thick head were dashed when the man kicked her foot and stared heatedly at her.

"You're interested in me though, I've seen it! You don't get flustered easily, but you do with me. You're fine with physical contact with everyone else, but me. And you've flirted with me!" Nyx leaned back in his chair, studying her intently. "You're the one being inconsistent!"

Her face scrunched up at the accurate claim.

"Why do you suddenly hate my guts now? What's up, Princess?"

"For the record, I have 'hated your guts' since you kidnapped me in the car and again on the airship."

He cringed guiltily. "Lets not cast stones, okay? I've still got the elephant in the room, but I'm willing to move on."

Insomnia and Galahd hung in the air between them.

The game went forgotten.

Imperatrix crossed her arms, wondering why this conversation had to get out of hand. She just wanted things to slow down. Was that too much to ask?

"Are you a gemini?" Nyx's random question earned him a funny look from the princess.

"I am. Why is that important?"

He amazed her with his ability for blurting out things. Was this a nervous tick?

"Oh, man…that explains so much!" The glaive cracked up.

"H-How?"

"According to zodiac lore, you've got two souls in that body. No wonder you're crazy one minute and sane the next."

"I am not crazy!"

"You're a woman, it's hardwired."

"That is so biased! How could any woman stand you?!"

"Oh, pretty well. You'd know by now if you weren't so difficult."

Being in the Kingsglaive got him brownie points with the woman in the city. Too bad his job kept him busy and he was reduced to short liaisons. Or maybe that had been a blessing in disguise...

Time and proximity were showing that Imperatrix wasn't going for his ways. Now that he thought about it, Nyx had no idea how this was supposed to work…

"I cannot…" The princess rubbed her forehead.

"I can't either, you hot-and-cold tease."

"Stop insulting me, you petty man."

"Here we go again." Nyx chuckled, whistling teasingly. "Vegetarian weirdo."

"Useless meatbag!"

"Oh, you're going straight for the jugular. So feisty!" He kicked her foot harder. "Tomboy."

She gasped, hands flying for her hair. The fringe he cut off had been angled to the side to make the uneven bangs appear intentionally stylish. "I am not!"

"You are! The haircuts I've seen you with are boyish, you're freakishly athletic for a girl, and I've seen you wear a dress once."

Imperatrix bolted out of her seat, storming out the recreational room.

"Wait, wait! What's up, I was joking!" Nyx grabbed her arm, but she yanked it away, out of his grabbing range in record time.

He gaped at the door, hands going up in defeated confusion.

"You are a fool, not worthy to look upon nor speak with Her Highness." Nebula spoke up, starling the glaive as he remembered the other guy was present.

"Are you in love with her or something? Cause you're borderline fanatical…maybe _Drautos level_."

"I do love her, she's my sovereign."

"Not exactly what I meant, man." The glaive sank into his seat, toying with the cards. "Are psychopaths even capable of romance?"

"You tell me. Does having a girlfriend count?" Said woman was laughing on the line, laughing uproariously at him.

"No way! She's human?! Not some creepy cyborg?"

Nebula paused in tossing a grenade on a group pinning him down with gunfire. His spider was always ganging up on him with her flunkies. "You've got some strange ideas, keep your fetishes away from the princess."

He didn't need Imperatrix picking up gross things. She already had the outrageous affinity for moogles and tonberrys.

Ugh, disgusting!

"Whatever. Go back to your fake shooting." Nyx tried his hand at shuffling the cards the way he'd seen the tease do it.

" _Fake_ , you say?"

He yelped, ducking under the table as actual gunfire went off. "Goddam you!"

The males wouldn't be curbing their aggressive compulsions anytime soon.

Imperatrix stopped in front of Lunafreya's door at hearing the barking. She knocked on the door.

Scratching noises and shuffling feet could be heard moving closer.

"Yes?" The oracle blinked at the princess in front of her door.

She expected it to be Nyx checking on her as he did every night.

"I heard Pryna and was concerned."

"She…misses Umbra is all."

"Where does he run off to so frequently?" Imperatrix observed the white canine sitting at Lunafreya's feet. The snooty thing sniffed at her with a turned head. "And how does he find us?"

Umbra disappeared while they were in Lestallum, and right as Lunafreya woke, he mysteriously showed up. Then when they reached the canyon, he darted off again.

That strange red book was always strapped to his back as well. What in the world was going on with the dog?

"Forgive me, but I am tired…" Lunafreya deflected with a carefully placed yawn.

"Oh, well…there is a matter I needed to bring up." The princess could see it wasn't a complete lie, the girl looked no better than a sick patient.

"If this about the morning—"

"It is not."

"Then?"

The princess held her phone in offering. "Your brother very much wishes to speak with you. Messages from me pale in comparison to your voice."

The elder Fleuret had sent numerous text messages after her call to Furia.

He asked over his sister's health, whether she was eating, because Lunafreya had a nasty habit of refusing food when she didn't get her way. A tactic to cut the person responsible.

He asked if his sister was being an inconvenience to Imperatrix, and if he needed to come retrieve her. An obvious cover for him to see her.

He even asked about Pryna and Umbra, if they were keeping the oracle company since they were the only ones his sister seemed to like.

Sweet, awkward Ravus had a foot in his mouth all the time.

It wasn't just the younger sister that had trouble communicating. They were a pair of people wanting to be close, but unsure how to go about it.

One bird tweeting in baritone, the other in soprano, their tune of bewitching discordance.

"Ravus?" Lunafreya's eyes widened in shock.

Imperatrix told her of his survival and had already volunteered her phone, but she hadn't known what to say to her brother. Then the other day she heard him on the radio, succinct and impassive over the announcement of Titan's awakening and the empire's swift response to end the rampage.

Hearing his voice…had been more comforting than she previously assumed, a fragment of home.

Perhaps…it wouldn't hurt to speak with her brother.

"Are you willing to do a phone call? He will not believe it is you otherwise." Imperatrix shifted the phone to her other hand after numbness prickled in her arm from holding the thing for an uncomfortable span of time. "It does not have to be a long, just…let him hear your voice. That is all I ask."

The princess was being pushier than normal, but she was doing it for a friend.

"I do not know how…" Lunafreya mumbled.

"You mean, what to talk about? You can never go wrong with asking a man about his day. Or you can ask about Furia, easiest conversation-breaker since he loves ranting about her. Or ask him about horses, because he is a great judge of winners, and is a sensational breeder—"

"I meant...I do not know how to use the phone." The oracle butted in, astounded by the rush of information.

Breeding horses? She thought Ravus lost interest in equestrians activities during boyhood after their mother informed him the unicorns no longer existed, even though the Fleurets still used them in the family crest.

Did she even know her brother?

What a stranger he was…

"Right, right. Tenebraen culture is against most modern technologies." Imperatrix deposited her phone into the girl's hands, launching into a lesson and demonstration.

Lunafreya took in the information, and when prompted, managed to call Nebula. The princess congratulated her and confirmed with the gunman that the call wasn't serious, a test for the oracle. He laughed and the girl knew she was being made fun of, frowning at the phone's motion of the call ending.

"Take all the time you need. I will be in my room." The princess backed away from the oracle's door, waiting to see if the blonde suddenly decided she didn't want to do it.

A nod and tiny smile quickened Imperatrix's retreat, banishing the second-guessing.

Delicate fingers hovered over the touch screen. Baby-blue eyes stayed glued to the contact photo as Lunafreya sat on her bed.

Somehow, Imperatrix had a picture of her brother smiling, a small, insignificant one, but one all the same. Really, it was more of that quirky smirk he could make when someone or something was so ridiculous he couldn't contain it.

That comical smile was given on the rare occasions her tirades on the empire didn't bother him, maybe even amusing him like a child whining about the unfairness of life to their parents from being denied a toy they wanted. Those instances he felt like the old Ravus, the one who secretly agreed their mother was strict enough for two people, and would join in on her complaining in their secret huddle in the library.

He'd tell her stories of their late father in that hut of carefully placed books to mime a cave.

Before she knew it, her finger landed on the symbol for calling and her heart pounded with each ring.

The texture of the metallic phone made her yearn for the two-ended telephone she was used to. Tenebraen phones felt more intimate than this little square box. Her phones could be cradled against the neck, with the head tilted to hear and speak...

She had to stop…

Not everything was cold and detached with imperials…

" _Impera, you know I prefer messages. What could be important this late?"_ Ravus carped in a tone that wasn't really angry.

Lunafreya's mouth went dry. When was the last time he spoke to her like that?

And he called the princess by name. No formality, no titles…

" _Impera, what is it? I am in the middle of something."_

It sounded like he was pouring something into a bowl. She could hear the clinking against the glass.

Was he eating? Ravus did sneak into the kitchen for late night snacking when he couldn't sleep.

" _For the love of- will you speak, woman?!"_ There was the crossness.

"Ravus…"

The commander stopped whatever he was doing, sharply inhaling.

"Ravus, it is your sister. I am using the princess's phone." Lunafreya managed to speak in an even tone, obscuring her nerves.

" _I know the sound of your voice, Luna. I do not require an introduction."_ He snipped.

The oracle didn't know where to go from there and neither did her brother from the dead silence.

Distraction arrived in the sound of yipping. Naturally, Lunafreya looked to her dog, an entreaty for calmness on her lips, but Pryna was on the beg with no indication of having made a sound.

At Ravus's annoyed sigh, she ventured to ask. "Did I hear barking?"

" _Yes, a sound you are familiar with and is thanks to the white-haired enabler in your company."_ Some of the testiness evaporated from his tone. _"Impera had the gall to buy a puppy for Furia. Trifling woman can hardly care for herself, let alone an animal!"_

"Oh, I remember that! She was very tiny and loud, with a pretty coat of fur."

" _A perfect representation of my wife."_

"Has she been named?"

The commander hesitated for a split second.

" _Eros…"_ He grunted out with distaste. _"Even though, it is a she."_

Lunafreya chewed her lip to not laugh. "Like Cupid?"

" _Yes, and it pains me to call for her."_

She giggled uncontrollably at her sour-faced brother calling out the silly name, the servants hiding their mirth behind hands and whispers. "W-What gave rise to the name?"

" _Repeating the story will destroy my dignity."_

"Please, tell me, brother."

That little plea mollified him enough to groan in defeat.

" _Furia said it was like getting shot with love's arrow when she saw the pup."_ Ravus groaned again, like he was coughing up something gross. _"Fanciful lies! She's all but flung the responsibilities on me."_

"Well, you do have experience."

Her brother helped care for Pryna and Umbra.

Though…was that a fair comparison when the two weren't the average canines? They were Divine Messengers, akin to Gentiana, and possessed intelligence.

" _I suppose Eros is one female that is tolerable..."_ His voice became soft, cooing along with the happy growls in the background.

"Are we so tiresome, Ravus?" Lunafreya didn't mean for the words to stab, but they just hurled out.

The commander sucked in the usual breath that preceded a flare, but the emergence of another voice suspended his vexation.

Or shifted it.

" _Oh, if it is not my blasted wife! Come to do your job at last?!"_

Lunafreya became a listener to her brother snapping at Furia. They argued over Eros's care, Ravus's inability to relax, the second princess's overabundance of relaxation, the irksome balls Pax and Felix threw on their liege's orders, and numerous other topics. It was dizzying to hear them go back and forth with a puppy adding input in the form of yips.

Oddly enough, the arguing hit a plateau and they decided to walk in the garden with Eros.

The oracle was about remind them she was still on the line when things became noisy with static.

" _Furia, Furia, stop it at once!"_ Ravus yelled.

" _Give me the phone!"_ Her yells mixed with his.

" _I said stop it, woman!"_

" _And I said give it here, husband mine! My word trumps yours!"_

" _In what country?!"_

" _Yours in fact! Tenebrae is a matriarchy!"_

Clearly, they were scuffling. Some things crashed together and she heard some groaning.

"Ravus, are you alright?" Lunafreya was used to their acerbic displays of love.

" _Oh, he is fine! No need to worry."_

She had to take Furia's word on it.

Sharp words, slaps, and strikes were the couple's language. The oracle wasn't shocked by these habits of her brother, she lived with the man's bad attitude.

She was shocked by the small, poised girl exploding when provoked. Furia showed no inclination of bowing out to a man's displeasure.

Their rocky start made her question whether the marriage would last and she'd been of a mind to involve the church in the process of getting an annulment. As the Divine Voice of the apostolic church, she had that power.

The servant's gossiping stopped Lunafreya's divorce proceedings before they began. The females tittering about how the arguing spiced up Ravus's private life, made her rethink everything she knew about the marriage.

A life of seclusion left her unknowledgeable of the ways os spouses.

She knew the generalities.

Spouses spent their lives together. They woke up to one another each morning, did some quality-binding activities together, ate meals in private, and retired to bed together, repeating the cycle in a loop of marital bliss. At some point in the pattern, children came.

Out of curiosity, Lunafreya inquired of Furia where the children would come from. The second princess was disbelieving of her innocent upbringing and smirked the entire time she uncovered the mystery for her sister-in-law.

Being educated on sex from a girl younger than her, with a vast imagination and flare for description, had been mortifying.

She couldn't look at Ravus for days afterwards...

The second discussion before she left for Insomnia to wed Prince Noctis had been no less embarrassing…

" _Lunafreya, there is much for us to catch up on! However, Eros needs her walk, and dogs are impatient creatures."_ Furia's voice was very pitchy and she sounded out of breath.

Had the two still been fighting?

" _Au revoir, Sister!"_

She stared perplexed at the phone.

That wasn't as arm wrenching as she thought…


	14. Chapter 14 (Ardyn Mature AO3 Content)

**This chapter has mature material which can be found on AO3.**

I finally got the comrades expansion! Took a shot at making a model of what Imperatrix would like using the skin models offered in the DLC. You can check out the samples on my DeviantArt page.

I'm listed as ExtraSaber on DA since Saber007 was taken.

Also, updated the story avatar as Impera's close-up.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Same drill as before, until Lunafreya awakens we must occupy ourselves." Imperatrix informed the two males sitting across from her at the table.

Done with Ramuh, they returned to the only major city available, Lestallum. The place was still under construction, but funnily enough, the citizens were chipper about some festival coming up.

Well, if assassins gave the people a reason to cheer, she wouldn't say anything. Even though she found the whole thing very dark when taking into account the real leagues of assassins hidden throughout the desert countries of Niflheim.

The secret order led by the Old Man of the Mountain was nothing to scoff at. If these people knew who and what they were honoring, would they still celebrate?

"These comas are inconvenient." Nebula slouched in his chair, neck rolling in Nyx's direction. "You should use this time to not be useless."

"What does that mean?!" He sneered at the visor lens.

" _It means_ go do some hunts."

"Hunts? Why the heck do you want me to do those?!"

The gunman sighed, garbled noise long and grating. "Do I really need to explain that?"

Nyx gave him the deadest stare possible.

"A hunt earns you money and experience. Two things you're severely lacking as a refugee and cripple."

At the glaive swelling up for a fight, Imperatrix quickly intervened in a soothing voice. "He means that in the nicest way possible. And honestly, it was my idea, Nyx."

He simmered down to a degree, sitting back in his seat to cross his arms.

Best keep himself caged before he slammed on the weirdo.

"You would greatly benefit from them, and you are natural-born hunter from Galahd. Nebula will assist as well." She flattered the man to get him onboard with the plan.

If Lunafreya were up, then she'd be going as well.

Money and experience were something both oracle and glaive needed. Imperatrix couldn't keep burning through her funds like this.

"Is my presence necessary, Your Highness? He is _The Hero of Kingsglaive_ , I am sure he can handle some low level missions on his own." Nebula subtly needled, fingers twitching on the armchair.

Someone save him…

The glaive would have him go through an entire carton of cigarettes from stress.

"Yes, my friend. You must go." The princess was immune to the gunman's rising irritation, fixing him with an unimpressed frown.

She switched to Latin so Nyx wouldn't be privy to her dressing down. Nebula groaned at being chewed out for his laziness and avoidance of training.

"What are you guys saying? I really hate it when you switch languages!"

"Consider this an opportunity to strengthen bonds. You two are the knights of our company, it would not do for either of you to continue being at odds." Imperatrix returned to the common tongue, beaming sunnily at her male friends. "I expect the difficult missions to be taken! It is time for you to rank up, Nebula. You are falling behind."

The elder Besithia's response was slow. "Yes…Your Highness."

"Hold on a second!" Nyx threw up his hand in the "stop" motion. "What rank are you, Impera?"

"The highest." She answered simply.

"The Hand of Mercy…" The gunman snorted derisively at the paradox.

His master could be slave driver at times.

What was wrong with taking on the easy quests? It was quick money and he wouldn't have to constantly save the glaive's ass.

"Oh, oh, hell no!" Nyx blurted out, scowling at the princess. "You are not beating me at hunting! I'm taking on every damn bounty til I surpass you!"

Imperatrix got over her surprise at his outburst, simpering in challenge. "Good luck then, Nyx Ulric."

He was taken off guard by the allure of her smirk, monetarily losing his bluster.

"I can't believe I'm going to have to babysit this moron." Nebula scoffed at the glaive ogling his liege.

"Shut up! I'll run circles around you, Mr. Trigger-Happy!" Nyx retorted, grabbing his coat and heading for the door. "I'll meet you in our room."

The elder Besithia nodded lazily in agreement.

"What are you going to do in the meantime, Impera?" He glanced around the opulent, but uninteresting room. "There's not even a tv in here! What's up with these hotels not having them in the rooms?"

Imperatrix shook with laughter at his aghast appraisement.

Gralea was a city of technology. A less modern city like Lestallum was driving Nebula up the wall.

She'd chosen a different hotel for them this time. There wasn't a risk of Iris or any of her entourage encountering the imperials here.

Without knowing who the brunette teenager was and why she shadowed their party, the princess wouldn't take any risks by staying under the same roof as her.

Imperatrix's identity couldn't be exposed, nor could Lunafreya's.

The girl was in the hospital, warded off in good hands for the duration of her recovery. She'd get a phone call from the doctors if there were any changes in her condition.

"I have plans for the evening."

"Ehhh, were you just trying to get rid of us then?" Nebula goaded knowingly.

"Possibly." She bantered with an innocent smile to divert.

He rasped out a chuckle, standing up with one final question lingering on his mind. "Tempy tell you when she's coming back? All I've gotten is silence."

"No. But I assume she is well." Imperatrix's expression slipped, trickling towards concern.

"Don't worry. She'll be barging in with her tail between her legs soon." The gunman paused at the door, massaging his neck. "When's she gonna learn that killing the Immortal is outside her capabilities?"

"Tenacity leads to triumph..." The princess muttered half-heartedly.

She didn't approved of Tempesta's obsessive fixation on Cor Leonis…

Ever since the first time the fist fighter lost to the man, she went out of her way to battle the Immortal whenever news of his whereabouts surfaced.

Nebula found it grotesquely amusing to see his sister fail repeatedly, returning back to them bruised and defeated. He enabled this compulsive behavior by sharing Cor's location with his sister when it didn't interfere with retainer business.

Imperatrix didn't feel as good about this meeting of a cat and lion...

But it was out of her hands...

"Oh, Nebula, could you do me a favor?" The princess called before he exited the room.

"Yes?" He tilted his head backwards.

Imperatrix rubbed her forehead for what she required of her retainer. "Please speak to Nyx, man to man. Make him understand about propriety. My words fall deaf on him."

"How assertive do I need to be?"

At his twitching hand, the princess waved her hand in the negative. "Words only, Darling."

"Pity, they won't work as well as my guns." He shuffled his feet, debating over addressing this further.

"Not now..." She could tell he was willing to lend an ear, but Imperatrix didn't want to get into an analyzation of her physical attraction to the glaive.

"As you wish, Impera." Nebula bowed his head. "Stay out of trouble."

She was left alone.

The next few hours were spent bathing, fixing her appearance, and looking through her suitcase for clothing.

There were exquisite dresses and skirts for her to choose from. The long, flowing Gralean style was too obvious, too grand for the streets of the city. Those outfits were reserved for any audiences with nobles.

Even though she longed to wear one and the accompanying accessories.

No.

The softer, silken robes from Persia would draw less attention. With that in mind, Imperatrix dressed in a dark blue kaftan with a tie around the waist. Normally, she'd wear the traditional shoes to go with, but heels were better suited to the harsh cobblestone.

She smiled contentedly for the feminine reflection she saw.

Hair no longer short, it was pinned up with strands dangling down. She'd trimmed her bangs to even them all out after Nyx's impromptu haircut. Earrings adorned her ears, rings adorned her fingers, and a necklace graced her neck.

Were she any vainer about her appearance, she'd spend a fortune on the highest curatives to lather on her scars, vanquishing them to non-existence and rendering her an unblemished sculpture.

Scars, however, were stories of survival.

Imperatrix wouldn't erase her tales.

"I do seem to have an affinity for them as well.." She pondered to her reflection, idly tracing the most significant reminders around her mid section.

Ardyn and Nyx both bore grievous battle wounds.

The glaive's story was known to her. His wounds were a consequence of magic, of great triumph over behemoth daemons and the empire's Diamond Weapon.

The flame-licked cracks a testament of his sense of loyalty and duty.

The Hero of Kingsglaive…

The chancellor's story remained vague and out of reach for her. Many things about him were a mystery to her and out of respect for his pain, she didn't pry.

Imperatrix desperately wanted to know more!

How could she know a man all her life, yet, only graze the surface of the kaleidoscope?

"Ah, the boys have left." The princess noted the absent jeep in the parking lot. "I hope they do not kill one another…"

Trial aside, the males were still on bad terms.

Both her retainers were very antagonistic towards the glaive, territorial of her in way she wasn't accustomed to.

The Besithia siblings teased and prodded her in regards to the red-head, turning a blind-eye to that courtship. They even behaved congenial, for the most part, around Ardyn.

Obviously, they didn't approve of Nyx and were making that abundantly clear.

The narcissistic man was a lot to put up with…

"Oh, Ardyn!" Imperatrix saw the Vixen enter through the tunnel.

She hopped off the railing and lifted her dress to descend the stairs, internally giddy over the ability to do so. Hurried steps in heels with skirts clenched in hand, took her back to frivolously running in the gardens.

Ah, the beauty of her home before eternal snow…

"Ardyn!"

The man looked up at her call, doing a double-take. His lips stretched and he leaned over the passenger door to watch her approach with dreamy admiration.

When she neared, his arms came up.

"Into my arms, Musa. Like old times!"

"You cannot lift me from there." The princess stated, leaning into him with the intention of hugging the man, but she gasped as he tugged her over the door.

She fell into Ardyn's lap, astounded by his strength.

"Hmm, not quite the same. Should we try again?" He offered teasingly, twisting beneath Imperatrix to turn off his car. "It works best when I'm standing to catch you."

"You…do not look well enough for a second try…" This close up, the princess could see what she couldn't before when rushing towards him.

She took his face in hand.

"Are you sick?"

Ardyn's skin was paler and colder, the amber in his eyes highlighted to eeriness from the black bags underneath, and there was…a tremble of something in his voice.

The man performed the most important human functions in absolute scarceness. He barely slept or ate most days, constantly needing to be reminded to do so by her or a secretary.

Was it no wonder that he had spells of unhealthiness with him fevered and strung with pains?

"Is your leg hurting?" Imperatrix scooted off, only for Ardyn to wrench her back in place on his lap.

"Ah, ah, ah! Show me the enthusiasm again. I am in much need of it." The chancellor sat up, tapping their foreheads together. "The prince will be the _death of me_!"

"His Highness…was that unmanageable?" She couldn't tell if he was just being his theatrical self or genuinely upset when he was sporting that snideful grin.

"You've no idea, my dear!"

He adjusted so his long limbs weren't bunched in the car, back pressing to the door and legs lifting to slide the princess forward on his lap and into his chest.

Imperatrix still sat sideways, focusing most her weight on his good leg, despite his reassurance of her placement being no inconvenience.

Such a worry wort.

"Enough of the prince." His fingers traced the curve of her face downward to the neck, where he twisted the loose hair around a finger. "Such beauty is in you... May I be so bold as to kiss you, Princess?"

"You may." Imperatrix propped herself up on his chest, presenting her cheek with a demure smile.

Not the place he wanted, but the chancellor pecked the flushed area anyway, controlling the urge to steal more as a vagrant would. He did lay another on her hand, boldly meeting her eyes as he did so.

The princess clenched at his collar, thumb almost grazing the skin of his throat.

"Careful now. It will be you in need of temperance."

"I stopped caring about virtues a long time ago." Ardyn ran his knuckles up and down Imperatrix's back, the sheer material all but letting him feel the heated skin beneath. "Besides, how else does one show reverence to the divine?"

He much preferred Persian material on her than anything else. It brought back memories…

She pursed her lips, one step from chewing them to keep the giggles from escaping.

The imp was purposely rubbing in the spot she was ticklish.

"Something wrong, Dearest?" The red-head baited, knowing what he was doing.

A muffled wail later from the sensitive area in the middle of her back being stroked, and Imperatrix leapt off a laughing Ardyn.

"Fine! If you wish to play games, then play we shall!" She sniped his treasured fedora off the backseat and escaped from the red convertible.

The princess twirled tauntingly with her bounty held aloft in the air.

Bemused, the chancellor slid out the car. He chased a little after the woman, putting little effort into actually retrieving his stolen hat.

She hid the item behind her back, twisting and turning away from Ardyn in a manner that he found sultry, in complete opposition to her girlish grin and good humor.

"As adorable and fun as this is, our time together is short, Musa." The chancellor abruptly gave up, bending to the princess's height with his hand held out expectantly for his hat.

Imperatrix stiffened. "You have somewhere to be? Am I keeping you from work?"

At her rearing up for a lecture on procrastination, he quickly diffused the situation. "A figure of speech, my dear. Nothing more."

Was it though?

His sense of time was distorted.

Things moved too slow for him. Years blurred together, getting duller and more repetitive with each one passed.

Then she appeared…

When it came to Imperatrix, no amount of time felt enough to fill what had been lost. Time moved too fast with her, each memory blazed into his mind.

The knife was twisting further and further the more he indulged in this human fantasy…

"I should like to move onto the actual _date portion_ of the evening, Ardyn." The princess tapped on the fedora gracing the chancellor's head, making it fall over his eyes.

"Oh, I haven't been a date with you in forever!" The red-head flicked the hat up and smirked at her. "Tell me, do you still kiss on the first one?"

She lightly shoved him in mock offense. "No!"

"Then thank goodness this isn't our first."

"Ardyn!"

The man plopped his hat on Imperatrix's head as he passed her. She huffed at the action, dashing after the chancellor to latch onto his arm and glare at him as they walked about the city.

"Why did you want the hat if you were going to use me as rack?"

The imp was always planting the thing on her head.

"A rack? You are mistaken." Ardyn enclosed his fist over the hand in the crook of his elbow. "It's there to be warmed."

"Your head is better for that."

"Au contraire, it is better to have a female's touch."

The honeyed drip in his tone was too much for it not to be innuendo.

The princess leaned into his arm, fluttering her eyes at the man.

She wasn't losing this game anymore. These men would learn not to toy with her!

"Is it the only thing in need of that?" Imperatrix flirted brazenly to get under Ardyn's skin.

The twitch in his arm and subtle lag in his step revealed the success of her maneuver.

"Well…"

At the end of the street, right before the stairwell, the chancellor pushed the princess up against the wall.

Caged in between his arms, Imperatrix sucked in a breath from the close proximity. It was as if she could be swallowed into Ardyn, blending in with the darker atmosphere of the street.

He whispered into her ear. "If you would do the _honor_ of warming my bed, I wouldn't say no."

This close, she could feel the smoothness of his face and nuzzled into it with a content sigh.

He'd shaved for her.

"Behave and I might." Imperatrix breathed into his ear, feeling his shiver.

"A thorny request…but I will give it my best shot for you." He took a deep breath and separated from her, fixing the hat on the princess's head as she pushed off the wall.

She rolled her eyes.

"Onward, my Dearest!" The chancellor flourished his hand.

Imperatrix took his hand, letting him help her up the stairs to the higher-end food district. She was insistent on Ardyn eating something after driving for hours and after he confessed to not remembering the last time he ate.

The food would put some color into his skin.

Sadly, he could only be sold on eating deserts. Red-headed sweets addict.

The couple entered a pastry shop, being seated at a secluded table, far back from the other attendees. The place was overly romantic and corny, like something out of Euphemia's comic books.

Imperatrix sighed in fond exasperation. "Of course you would choose a place as this."

Ardyn got kicks out of the most absurd things…

"I blame all you princesses for this guilty pleasure of mine. Were it not for all you persuasive girls, I wouldn't frequent places as this." He browsed over the menu intently.

"You sound like Father...half-heartedly complaining…"

She and her sisters did drag the male figures in the family to the most feminine restaurants that made them gag and itch.

Her father was constantly grouching over the abundance of femininity in his life and the lack of masculinity, but he never turned down a request from any of his daughters to go shopping, eat out, go to a theatre, or some other non-physical activity.

At least, that used to be his way…

Before he became obsessed with empowering the empire, Iedolas was more her father than her sovereign. Now it was reversed, he was her lord first and her parent second.

She couldn't even bring herself to call him...

The only communication between them had been his directive on the Astrals, sent to her by email. A generic one distributed among the high-ranking members of council and military.

Was her father truly mournful over his actions towards her?

Did she still have his love?

"Impera, these little delights won't eat themselves."

In her contemplation, the chancellor ordered half the menu. All the items were arranged on a multi-layered platter.

The red-head had even gone ahead in preparing their drinks, a heavily sugared one for himself and a more plain one for the princess.

She cringed at the future sickness that would befall her after ingesting so much unhealthy junk.

Maybe she should have eaten before their date…

"Ah, have this one, my dear!" Ardyn pushed a plate bearing a heart-shaped pastry with icing towards Imperatrix.

All the previous depressive energy disappeared.

The princess giggled at the childish display of affection. Then giggled some more as the man proceeded to find every heart-shaped, or any kind of stylized item, and set it on her plate.

By the end of the search, Imperatrix had a little piece of art in front of her from Ardyn's arrangement.

"You have made it too pretty! I wish not to disturb it." The princess smiled at the dish of stars, hearts, and flowers.

"Then here."

A fork laden with cake was proffered.

"Ardyn…" Imperatrix glanced about for watchers.

Other customers were in their own worlds, paying them no mind. The employees didn't give them a second glance either, completely indifferent.

They were the typical couple here.

She wasn't a princess to be ogled at. He wasn't an official to gossip about. There were no photographers in hiding, prepared to sell scandalous stories to the highest bidders.

Imperatrix could behave as she wished here in Lucis. To these people she was an ordinary face in the crowd.

"Do you no longer like red velvet?" Ardyn questioned, reminding her that he was still extending the cake.

Hesitation gone, the princess consumed the red desert.

The chancellor hummed, gaze becoming hooded from residue icing being licked off lips. Wanting a repeat, he presented another piece.

"I can feed myself." She remarked wittily, even though Imperatrix leaned forward to polish off the fork.

"Forgive me, but your pretty mouth is transfixing." A foot hooked underneath her chair, dragging the princess closer to the man opposite.

With how slow he was doing it, she could've stopped him.

"And you're licking your lips…how you are driving me mad..."

Ardyn's arm dropped over the top of her chair, hand coming up to caress her cheek.

"Behave, Darling…" Imperatrix warned from the less chaste hand on her thigh squeezing with a desire to move upward.

The tablecloth prevented anyone from seeing the compromising position they were getting into.

Self-control was needed on both parties at the moment.

"As you command, Your Highness." He made a show of removing his hands and keeping them above the table.

The new seating arrangement had the princess moving her silverware.

Ardyn found himself feeling a swell of satisfaction from her not moving back to the other side. Overall, he was pleased with her affectionate conduct and her openness with it.

Sneaking around was fun and all, but not having to bottle up all his urges for the sake of appearances was refreshing.

He would enjoy these last fantasies for as long as possible…

"Ardyn, do you need to rest?" Imperatrix touched his arm, concerned by silence and slackening posture.

"Hmm, not yet. There is something you could do for me though." The chancellor perked up with a wicked grin.

"What is it?" She was wary of that look.

"Be a dear and feed me the rest." He appealed in a low tone.

Nerves bubbled in her gut and the princess picked up her tea to sip, deliberating on the matter.

The imp had deliberately eaten the items in need of utensils, leaving behind the finger foods.

She'd have to hand-feed him. Knowing Ardyn, he'd lick her fingers as she did it…

The lewd remembrance of their time in Saxham sprung to mind and heat flooded inside her.

"Someone's thinking naughty thoughts!" The red-head teased. "I was being completely innocent in my request."

"Lair, liar! You meant for that reaction." Her blush amplified.

"I didn't. I simply wanted to be doted on. It isn't my fault you find innuendo in everything!"

"I do not! You exude it!"

Her words fleetingly took him to another time.

He chuckled faintly, bopping Imperatrix on the nose for her unintentional deliverance of nostalgia. "Oh, Dearest Musa. You bring back memories…"

She wrinkled her nose, quirking her lips at the air of wistfulness he sometimes allowed her to see. "Good ones?"

"Mostly…"

"Will you tell me one?" The princess took her turn to be the silly lover, desert offered to the recipient.

The cookie was eaten in one go by the chancellor. Instead of her fingers being licked like she suspected, they were kissed.

Unpredictable imp.

"Story time over tea and cakes? Are we in your suite, Princess?" He snickered, tugging on her hair. "Will you not all asleep if I start entertaining you?"

"Then you can carry me to my room." She leaned into his side, playing along. "And sing me one of your songs. They are so lovely…"

"Story or song? You may have only one."

"What a difficult choice."

The stories were often far-fetched to the ears and sounded implausible.

For example, how could Ardyn know with certainty all the mythical creatures told in bedtime stories were real and lived alongside humans?

Dragons flew in the sky and swam in the sea. Unicorns traversed the land. Carbuncles, sylphs and all other manner of creatures were abundant in the ancient ages.

The most exotic creatures in this day and age were the untamed monsters that drifted in uninhabited areas. And of course, each country possessed their own set of animal life that were foreign to other places.

The chocobos, griffons, and other avian birds of Lucis. The dolphins, whales, and millions of other marine life in Accordo. The tigers, horses, and other mammals of Niflheim.

The three aspects of life.

Land, sea, and sky, reflected in the three countries.

More fantastical than any other were the stories told by Ardyn as they stood inside the historical center, right before the statue of her greatest ancestor.

He never seemed to run out of things to say about Tellus Aldercapt.

Her ancestor was a king that rose to become the first emperor after uniting all the countries under one rule. It was he that conned their continent as Niflheim. He desired to unify all under the sky to his rule, truly re-establishing the ancient civilization of Solheim.

Like many, Tellus's ambitions exceeded the thread of his life. Those dreams would live on in every one of his descendants that took on his name.

"I cannot decide…"

Stories and songs. Both were prizes.

As wicked as Ardyn could be, he held an angel's voice. It could pull at the soul in all kinds of ways.

Only three voices could move Imperatrix to tears. Two of them belonged to the Fleurets, and one to the chancellor.

"Then neither you shall receive." Ardyn shrugged after the lengthy deliberation finally ended.

He'd eaten almost everything in the span of the princess's answer.

"Why not both?"

"No, no, no. I must stop spoiling you." He smeared icing on Imperatrix's cheek as her face scrunched up in disagreement.

"Ardyn!"

"Yours truly!" The chancellor descended on the spot before she could wipe it off with a napkin.

His tongue cleaned the mess in an open-kiss.

"Don't do that!" She muttered, frantically looking around for watchers.

He used another finger to smear more down her neck after finishing with the icing on her cheek.

"Ar-Ardyn…" Imperatrix dug her fingers into his thigh in response to the lips and tongue gliding up her throat.

She couldn't help but extend her neck for him.

"We will get thrown out…"

"Shush now, Musa. They won't know if you're quiet…"

He…had a point...

From where they were seated, the back of Ardyn was in view and she was mostly blocked from sight by his large frame.

A few other couples were also flaunting their closeness; playful smooches, animated cooing, and cuddling on display.

This really was a place for romance…

"You were supposed to be feeding me. I'm only continuing that."

Imperatrix wanted to sob from how unjust the chancellor was being. She wanted to kiss him, but that would disastrously open the door for more.

They were in public. Manners were mandatory!

"Cut it out." She demanded, pushing on Ardyn's chest.

The man expelled a whine of protest, but obediently stopped necking her.

Privately, he preened at the love bite unintentionally left on Imperatrix's throat. A fit was sure to transpire once the hickey was spotted by its bearer.

"Let us finish here and be gone." The princess regained her composure, adding some distance to the tempter next to her.

"It's you that needs to finish."

"Stop it!"

"Musa, Dearest, I meant your tea and cake." The chancellor prided himself for how kept turning the tables.

That blush needed to forever grace the princess's countenance.

"Of course you did." She sniffed, drinking her lukewarm tea to reel in her frayed nerves.

Imperatrix was awash with yearning wishing to be aired.

The last few deserts were finished. The princess was then filled with the urge to walk off the energy spike and avoid anything sweet for months.

Like a gentleman, Ardyn paid and held open the door for his date. Outside the shop, the sun had set, replaced with the glow lights of Lestallum.

The hustle and bustle of the day died down to calmness.

"Intriguing isn't it? How one is revered and one is feared?" The red-head strolled around the square, hands rolling in motions for his riddle.

The answer wasn't lost on Imperatrix.

She looked to the sky. "Day and night, the duality of life."

The sun for humans. The moon for daemons.

Two existences fighting for dominance.

"Which do you prefer, my dear?" He faced away from her.

"Both." Her heels sounded loud on the cobblestone as she stepped nearer to the man.

"No one likes darkness…and they shouldn't…"

She tentatively laid her hand on Ardyn's back. His abrupt mood swings could unnerve those not used to him.

His malady could also be agitating him. The minor limp in his gait hadn't gone unnoticed by her.

"Light and darkness are equal parts of nature. We cannot have one without the other." The princess edged forward to glimpse his face.

She saw abundant tiredness.

"Thus, while I may fear the creatures of the night, I acknowledge them as parts of the whole."

Tempesta and Nebula…her precious friends. They bore darkness in them and she would never hold an ounce of hatred towards them for it.

Unlike most…she didn't abhor daemons, just feared them as she did anything with power greater than her own.

"I wish to take you somewhere, Impera. Will you come with me?" Ardyn announced after stroking her cheek.

She extended her hand.

"Even if it's outside the city?"

The hand wavered, but then steadied. "I would need to retrieve my sword first."

Softly, he smiled at her trust. What a fragile, invaluable thing it was.

"You needn't one when I will be your blade, slashing left and right for the pretty princess."

"I have never seen you fight. My faith in that scenario is shaky." Imperatrix ran her hands over his arms and chest. "But your body tells a different story. Who have you fought?"

"I've lost count over the years, I'm afraid."

"What…is this?" She paused over the obstruction within the chancellor's coat.

"Your sword if need be." He let her inspect the inside.

"How?!" The princess stared awestruck by the magnificent red blade strapped to the interior of Ardyn's overcoat.

How had he casually walked around with a full length sword on him?

What kind of trench coat had all these pockets and hidden features?!

"What else are you hiding in there? Is this the sword I felt when we danced? Is my uniform tailored like this?" Questions flew from Imperatrix the more she searched the interior and found numerous pouches.

She was respectful enough not to sift through them.

Ardyn cracked up at her youthful break in personality, answering the questions in order. "Many things. Yes, it is. I did fashion yours like mine."

Imperatrix squeaked at the tidbit.

She would have to thoroughly examine her uniform. It hadn't even occurred to her to check the insides for compartments!

"I do think we should be on our way." He skipped away from searching hands, gesturing to the streets.

"Oh, yes, yes!" The princess chased after the chancellor, skirts flying behind her.

Somehow the red-head managed to stay ahead of her, leading Imperatrix on a merry chase to the parking lot. She was befuddled by his ability to seemingly disappear from sight and reappear with a grin around another corner.

She passed it off as her imagination and slowness from her apparel.

"Your chariot awaits, Your Highness." Ardyn opened the passenger door.

"Oh, how I miss mine." The princess said longingly, sliding into the front row.

She pushed the buttons for the hood to rise.

He spared her an amused grin as the radio was the next thing on her objective. Finding nothing satisfactory, the princess rummaged in the glove compartment for the CD case and set it on her lap to flip through.

"You're so very comfortable with my car. It's oddly charming."

"Well, I have been in it too many times to count."

With no one on the roads this late, the chancellor could get away with one hand for steering, freeing up the other to rest on Imperatrix's knee.

Ardyn certainly liked being able to touch whenever he wanted, both in public and private.

He expected a little resistance from the sudden freedom, but the princess appeared to like the attention, so long as it stayed within decency.

Ah, the sunny smiles that would come out now that he could be as lavishing as wished!

Those beams of her returned lost little flutters…

"You would play this…" The chancellor sighed good-naturedly.

Imperatrix's mien was cheeky as she scooted closer to him. He let go of her knee to lift his arm in invitation.

"It is a long-standing favorite." She affixed herself to the usual place, inside Ardyn's arm. "Admit it, you like it."

"I would have to after listening to it well over fifty times, else you'd rob me of what little sanity I have."

This mixtape of jaunty pop songs had been sort of a joke and sort of a serious gift in the highs of their courtship. The CD stood out the most from all the others due to the listing of love songs Imperatrix loaded on it.

The very one playing was the tune she hummed during their passionate re-kindlement.

Loneliness and distance made her finally thaw to him.

She'd been isolated like never before. No friends, no allies, and without aid in foreign territory.

Was it any wonder she clung to him?

He'd hesitated…

There was always that nagging resistance to reel Imperatrix back into his pit, but sentimentality won out. Ardyn proved himself to be as base as any other mortal man, giving in to the fragments of humanity brought out by the princess.

It was wrong, cruel even, to continue defiling her with his vile existence.

But he couldn't let go, not again…

As the song she loved so aptly put, he could break her heart and each time it healed, amazingly, tragically, it beat for him.

A true monster he was to take advantage of that…

"Wait, you cannot drive into here!" Imperatrix yelled as the Vixen drove fearlessly into the opening of a cave.

"And why not?" Ardyn stole a fleeting look at the empty spot by his side, already missing the reminder of her body and the scents of perfume.

She sputtered, hands pointing to around them. "The carbon monoxide from the car is poisonous in closed quarters!"

The chancellors eyebrows lifted in surprise.

He did lower the hood before entering. Technically, they'd already inhaled the gas.

"That slipped my mind…" Ardyn tapped his chin, now starting to wonder if this plan was hazardous, instead of romantic.

"How could that slip your mind?! Is your mortality that forgettable?!" The princess tugged on his sleeves, disbelief coloring her face.

How ridiculous! This man was horrendously carefree!

"Well…" He drawled guiltily.

Mortality meant nothing to him.

"Are you trying to kill me again?!"

"Dearest, for the millionth time...you were perfectly capable of escaping the city! And the destination is open-aired enough for the car."

Imperatrix huffed, even more disbelief building.

Either Ardyn's faith in her was near pedestal-high, or he really underestimated how dangerous The Fall had been.

Daemons, glaives, giant statues, airships, magitek armors, and natural disasters. Really, it was more of a miracle that she'd survived the night at all!

"I swear! I want to strangle you most of the time." The princess said with deadly calm.

The cad!

"Oh, please do, my dear!" The chancellor smirked with so much sensuality that her thoughts swiftly left her. "You have so many sides to enjoy..."

He chuckled at her loss of words, turning off the headlights and stretching his arms out on top of the seats.

"Dearest, look."

The princess snapped out of her fantasy of choking Ardyn at the base and making him beg for forgiveness while she took him on the command table.

Her face flooded an alarming shade of red from the sinful thoughts. She was slow to take in what the imp wanted to reveal.

"Gods above!" Imperatrix cried out.

She launched out of the car, awed by the cavern of crystals.

The woman spun around in excitement for every catch of light that twinkled the colors of sunset. Jewels of light were all around her, as was the beam of the moon from the jagged-lined opening up above.

Truly, a representation of the dualities. Day in the cave, night in the sky.

"Impera, you silly girl! You cannot dance around here barefoot!" The chancellor kneeled before her, inspecting the princess's feet and then cleaning them with a handkerchief.

"That tickles!" She giggled, hunching into his shoulders.

He smiled up at her, his own laughter on the horizon as he slid heels onto dainty feet. "Are you Cinderella?"

"If I am, this story is playing out of order."

"When do things ever play out in a straight line?"

She was prevented from replying as the chancellor hooked his arms around her waist, lifting and twirling in one breath. More mirth escaped from her lips and Imperatrix wrapped her arms around his neck.

Foreheads meshed, noses brushed, and breaths mingled.

The princess's legs dangled in the air. She felt weightless in their swaying.

Amber met sapphire.

"This was meant to be our dancing on that rooftop, with fireworks as the backdrop." Ardyn was very near crashing their lips together.

Love came through the eyes and Imperatrix's were consuming.

"And have everyone gossip?"

"They already do."

"Whose fault is that, Darling Caesar?" She closed the remaining distance, covering his mouth with hers.

He responded immediately with a muffled moan, arms circling beneath Imperatrix's and bringing her impossibly close.

The clatter of a shoe on the smooth, crystalline floor brought the two out of the tide.

"Sweeping me off my feet and out of my shoes. How gallant." The princess quipped, still heady off the rush of sinking, of yielding to the helplessness that came with an open heart.

"At your service, Your Highness." He lowered her into the elusive footwear. "Would you care to dance with a partner this time?"

Imperatrix centered herself, casting dubious eyes upward and off the man willing to look at her like she was the world he revolved around.

"I suppose this is open-aired enough that we will not asphyxiate from the car running."

How had Ardyn even found a place like this?

The yellow, reds, and oranges reminded her of the gorge they fought golems and saw Titan rise from the ground. The place even had the same dense feel she was coming to associate with magic.

If she stared hard enough, the colors beneath her feet appeared to move in waves, magma within the glass.

Could this cavern have formed in the aftermath of the Archaean's judgement?

"May I have this dance, Princess?" Ardyn reappeared with an outstretched hand, reminiscent of his stance at the party.

Music filled the cave.

"My Lord Chancellor." This time there was no reluctance giving him her hand.

A curtsy and bow later, the two stepped closer.

The flutter of clothing as cautious hands took their places, the inhalation of anticipation, and the locking of gazes began their waltz.

It was nothing like the stiff and formal one from months ago, where the chancellor subtly kept attempting to bring her closer, and the princess staunchly rebuffed anything less than a foot between.

That dance had been the most tense and disconnected show of choreography. An insult to the true ones they were capable of.

No.

Their movements were model of clarity, closeness, and culmination this night.

The gentle intensity in Ardyn's palm as it shifted from the hollow of her back to the various trends of dips, spins, and tugs, belied how eager he was for more contact.

It was a testament of control on his part that he wasn't acting on his impulses.

A change in music style and the princess clung tighter to the red-head, grateful that he'd removed the great black overcoat.

She could feel the prickle of his skin beneath the ruffle-styled dress-shirt.

And so, their respectful motions graduated to a dizzying sway of brushes, strokes, and caresses in their re-enactment of an intricate mazurka.

Were they at court, the intimacy of their touches would draw scorn and whispers.

Nothing mattered but the beating wings of arms overlapping, the towering arcs of arms guiding spins, feet chasing ripples of time, arms lifting in flight, necks bending and tilting to catch souls, arms merging to clasp and unclasp hands like chains, and chests heaving with breaths heavy and ripe as a nebulous cloud before the pour.

Blinded were the lovers.

"Ardyn! Ardyn, I want you so badly…" Imperatrix proclaimed, tugging on his neck to bring him down to her level.

He accommodated without delay, kissing her with a ferocity that bent her over his arm in a final dip.

Were it not for the mounting pain in his leg and the stinging of old wounds, Ardyn would've fallen to the floor with the princess, a servant to her will.

"Let us…return…" The chancellor grimaced from the combined state of pain and pleasure he was experiencing. "This is no place for that."

He hated this cursed state of his.

Constantly in a state of suffering with no end. He hated it with every fiber of his being!

"Yes…" She was disappointed to leave the beautiful discovery, but allowed herself to be pulled away.

A dream.

Her darling first love created wonderful dreams for her to store in the chains of memory.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What exactly should I buy?" Imperatrix contemplated, face hovering over the row of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

Here she was, the crown princess of the Niflheim empire and a commander in the army, shopping for medicine in a convenience store for a forty-six year-old man huddled up in blankets, shivering, coughing, and whining up a storm in her hotel room.

The ridiculousness of it all...

The giant troll had woken at the crack of dawn with convulsions and then stubbornly underplayed his problems to her, rolling himself up in all the blankets available when she cut the lights on and saw how he looked.

Ardyn's skin was deathly pale to the point the veins under his skin could be seen. His scars had somehow been irritated and were a canopy of reds, pinks, and blues.

If he'd stood still long enough for her to touch him, his skin most likely would've been arctic.

He looked like a man on the verge of death…

It took her breaking into frustrated tears for him to cave. He accepted her plea of taking medicine instead of waiting it out.

"He is feverish…" The princess unsurely picked up antibiotics and some heat pads.

Without knowing exactly what bothered the man, she didn't know if general supplies would help. All he'd told her was that it flared up every now and again.

That bitter frown he wore when explaining it was unsettling.

She didn't want him to die…

"Is he like Uncle Florian?" She wandered around the store, items cradled in her arms and periodically checking her phone for messages from either the chancellor or the hospital for the oracle.

From the day he was born, Florian Tellus Aldercapt was besieged by illness.

Her grandmother hadn't even wanted to bestow a name on him after his tenth day of life, as was custom for the Dekate ceremony.

She thought it a waste to name a child that wouldn't live past the month and callously named her second son Florian, for his lifespan would be no longer than a flower.

The Dowager Empress and Regent had many spiteful stories to share with her sons and grandchildren. The joke was on her though when Florian outlived her, even if his life had always been a half-life from the illnesses.

Tuberculosis stole much of her uncle's life.

What time he had left was being spent in the comfort of a villa with servants to cater to his every need.

Seeing Ardyn sick with no way for her help was agonizing…

"Hey, Em!" Iris skipped into Imperatrix's view, all smiles and bounces.

Immediately, her guard was up for the over-the-top cheer.

What were the odds that the teenager would shop in the same store as her with how large of a city Lestallum was?

Serendipity wasn't in the girl's corner.

"Hello, Iris. Out alone again?" Regardless of her caution, the princess smiled politely.

She'd allowed this girl to follow her unhindered in her fretting! Nebula would've given her the coldest form of disappointment for the slip-up.

"Yup! No one can keep this girl down!" She pumped her fist.

"What brings you here?"

"These babies." The brunette held up a stack of comic books Imperatrix wasn't familiar with.

"You enjoy those?"

The princess wasn't a stranger to comics. Euphemia loved them and would spout off the current series she was reading to whoever would listen.

Though, the genres she delved in were either corny romances or supernatural stories, not the swash-buckling superhero material Iris picked out.

Maybe…

The reading material was what made her sister so bizarre…

"They're not really my thing, but it's a necessary sacrifice." Iris's colored nails scrapped against the plastic covering.

"What do you…" It clicked for the older woman. "First crush?"

The teenager gasped, covering her rosy cheeks with the superhero paperbacks. "How'd you know?!"

"Been there, done that." She replied breezily.

"Really?! Did you get the guy?"

"More or less…"

She and Ardyn were periodically in a state of courtship and fallouts.

"I have to hear this. Oh, please, Em?!"

Iris's enthusiasm channeled the ingrained instinct of sibling indulgence. The princess divulged the early stages of her pursuit of a certain imp while waiting in line to purchase her items.

Ardyn had been so well read and poetic in his manner, that in effort to impress him, she studied great poets, esteemed composers, and timeless playwrights. The effort paid off in their conversations, shifting his behavior from courteous to romantic.

Her venture also had the benefit of re-establishing her as a socialite after years of military regimes hardening her.

The princess had the chancellor to thank for her re-discovering that side of her soul. The side the senators had stripped from her…

If it weren't for that silly infatuation, Imperatrix might've let go of the last threads of the girl she was before the mantle of crown heir fell on her.

She used to have many interests and burgeoning talents.

So many "what ifs" that could have been…

"I hope your friend feels better." Iris said once they were outside the store. "Maybe you should get her some flowers, too. That'll make the medicine go down."

"I thought it was a spoonful of sugar for that." Imperatrix jested, to the brunette's delight.

She eyed the stand pointed out to her.

"What makes you think she is a flower love?"

Why was Iris assuming Tempesta was ill? The mask wouldn't have given anything away and the fist fighter wasn't even in the city.

"Of course she is." The teenager insisted with confidence and then faltered at the princess's raised eyebrow. "I mean, she looks like a flower-kind-of-girl. White dress, blonde hair, blue eyes, the exact kinda girl you'd read about in some medieval novel."

Alarm bells went off at the girl's blubbering.

It wasn't Tempesta she was talking about, it was Lunafreya!

Did Iris know she was referencing the oracle?!

"I think I will buy her a flower. Would you like to help me pick?"

"Sure!" The brunette ran to the stall, nervousness gone to inhale the aromas of fresh flowers.

When she handed a blue flower to the princess, Imperatrix knew Iris wasn't some random girl.

Anyone could've pegged the selection on their previous discussion of irises and sylleblossoms, but she was too trained from a life of hidden messages and knew it was a declaration.

For the second time that the teenager left her presence, Imperatrix wondered who the girl was and how much of a threat she might become.

Could she be an Insomnian from the citadel? That was the only explanation for how a mere girl knew her identity from day one.

By the time she returned to the hotel, the princess wanted to nap. Her energy was low from the night's activities, being prematurely awoken, and mulling over Iris.

"Ardyn, I am back." Imperatrix greeted, kicking off her shoes and then falling on top of the large lump of blankets curled up on her bed.

She lodged her head into what she thought was his neck, limbs snaking around his body.

"You took longer than I thought you would." His voice came out muffled from the cocoon.

"I was distracted." Imperatrix tossed the plastic bag off to the side. "I bought you flowers and medicine."

"Flowers? Aww, how sweet. You're making me blush, Dearest." He wriggled a little beneath her, and instead of laying along his side, she ended up flat on his chest. "I got you something as well."

"How?"

"Magic." The chancellor quipped. "Look in the corner."

The princess sat up to look in the specified direction.

There was a cart of room service dishes that she completely missed. Her stomach clenched in hunger.

"Can you hold anything down, Ardyn?"

The red-head groaned in response.

"That is not a _no_." Imperatrix slid off the lump, inspecting the food.

The items were catered to her tastes, lacking in meat and high in fruits. Clearly, the man didn't plan on eating himself.

She rolled the cart closer to the bed, splitting the things into a plate for herself and one for the chancellor.

"Yes, my dear?" Ardyn finally spoke after the repeated nudges to his face.

"Come now, butterfly. Leave your cocoon." The princess cooed.

"Imperaaaa…" He turned in the opposite direction of the poking.

"No more of that! You must take the medicine and then eat something." Imperatrix climbed over the lump to retrieve her purchases.

"Noooo!" The chancellor whined at her beginning to untangle the sheets.

"Ardyn, stop being childish! I bought the medicine to help you!"

"But Impera, those things are useless!"

"Oh, my gods! Am I really having this argument with you?!" Down to the last blanket, the princess tugged the barrier around his face. "Just take them!"

"I don't want to..." His complaining was followed by him actively clasping the sheets to his body, overpowering Imperatrix's attempts.

"Why are you so strong?!"

"My dear, need I remind you? I am naked underneath this and your uncontrolled wriggling is exciting me."

The princess froze on his lap, hand flying to her mouth to cover the gasp.

This was reminding her of Nyx and the sleeping bag…

At her unresponsiveness, Ardyn drew back the covers from his head, blinking at the onslaught of light. "Impera?"

She still didn't say anything, reaching over for the antibiotics, uncorking one and pouring the liquid into the measuring cup. When the innocent cup was held out, he sighed.

"What's on your mind?" The chancellor stalled.

The liquid was nudged expectantly and Imperatrix continued staring at him.

"Medicine for your thoughts? Fine." He scooted up, careful not to upend the princess.

The one good thing about this was that he couldn't actually taste the liquid, but he pretended to gag afterwards just to heckle his nurse.

"You have to take another."

"Why?!"

"Because you are a giant and an adult, which means a larger dose." Imperatrix rolled her eyes and refilled the cup.

This time she didn't wait and pressed it to Ardyn's lips before more bleating could escape. He swallowed the thick, unappealing remedy.

The man was at least thankful that in the peak of his torturous existence his sense of taste was gone.

Out of curiosity, he'd tried cough medicine before when a flu hit the royal family and they all were bedridden with coughs, stuffy noses, delirium.

What a farce!

Doctors of this age pawned their products off as sweet when the items, were in fact, not sweet. He'd rather just deal with the upfront unpleasant remedies of old.

Sweets were just about the only thing he could really taste on a good day. He didn't want that sense spoiled by paltry imitations.

"Now was that so awful, Darling?" The princess goaded once she finished giving him all the supplements and applying the heat pads to Ardyn's skin.

A small snort creeped out from how silly he looked. The chancellor gave her a look of mischief.

With no warning, he lunged forward to capture her lips. Her surprise at hitting the bed with the imp on top enabled his tongue to slip into her mouth.

Imperatrix shrieked from the liquid she tasted.

"Was that _so awful_ , Dearest?" He mocked after releasing her from the kiss.

"You are the worst!" Her face scrunched up in disgust and she shoved him off to go for the juice nearby.

Howls of laughter discharged from the red-head.

After the horrid aftertaste of cherries was drowned, the princess jerked her arm backwards to give the glass to other person saddled with the experience. Ardyn took it from Imperatrix and then slightly glared at the plate she set in front of him.

"I'm not—"

"Since you have the energy to be frisky with me, you can gear that towards eating." The princess insisted over the chancellor.

His frown switched to an impudent grin. "Will you feed it to me then?"

"On one condition."

"Yes, my dear?"

"You have give to me answers."

Ardyn shrugged his shoulders in a manner that told her he was undecided, but could be persuaded. She sat on the bed to do as he wanted.

Goodness, she babying him today…

"Did I mention how pretty you look?" The chancellor asked as he pulled her on his lap.

Garbed in a sleeveless lilac dress with the hair clipped behind her ears, the princess was the picture of domestic as she fed him pieces of the omelet he'd ordered for her.

"Thank you…" She flushed at his rapt appraisal, fork trembling in her hand from how peaceful his smile became.

Why couldn't Ardyn be like this all the time? Or at least seventy percent of the time?

"Are you always to remain a mystery? My Darling Caesar masked, even from me?" Imperatrix huffed sadly.

Done with the food, she sent pleading eyes his way. For his part, the chancellor's expression transitioned to sorrow.

"How should you love me then, if I wasn't an enigma?"

"What a thing to say! Am I so shallow to you?!"

"No! What I meant was…" He seized her smaller hands in his, stopping her from pounding him on the chest with her unconvincing hits. "You wouldn't be able to love the man, if you knew what a beast he was."

The resigned opinion of her ticked Imperatrix off, as did Ardyn's self-deprecation.

"You are not all bad, Darling Mine. I have seen your capacity for good."

Most the income Ardyn received as chancellor and co-director of R&D went into the city, donated to libraries, museums, theaters, and schools. He was patron of more establishments than the emperor.

The man kept busy with more projects than anyone at court.

Another redeeming quality was his easy immersion within her family. She couldn't remember a time the red-head hadn't been involved with the Aldercapts.

That young, gangly, teenager she used to crane her neck to look at…

Her father practically adopted the man, giving him rooms in the wing reserved for the royal family. A privilege given only to retainers and the most trusted.

For someone so disdainful of people, Ardyn was surprisingly kind to her siblings…and of course, her.

"Ah, all done."

Imperatrix felt a weight on her head. "A flower crown?"

She left the wreath undisturbed, wondering how the chancellor had weaved it into her hair so fast. It was barely a minute ago the princess saw him fiddle with the bouquet.

"I dub thee, Imperatrix Mundi, _Empress of the World_." Ardyn pronounced with a flourish, hand over his heart and bowing his head playfully.

With the blankets off his body, she could see the veins were no longer visible and he was back to a normal pallor.

The medicine and heat pads worked!

Imperatrix decided to participate in the game. "As empress, I command you to reveal your secrets."

"I'll require a _substantial bribe_ for that, Your Radiance."

"Name your price."

The lascivious once-over set the bar high.

"Darling Caesar…if you must have me, then answers are the key."

Ardyn gave her a smacking kiss. "An answer you shall receive, for I bend the knee."

She tackled him onto the bed. Ear pressed to his chest, the princess felt the vibrations of his added mirth.

"What ails you?"

Looking into those treasure troves, he couldn't deny Imperatrix. "An illness I gained from helping others…"

He could make small concessions…

"Is it terminal?"

"It cannot kill me." Ardyn busied himself combing through curling white hair, bitterness rising to the surface along with the millions of roars.

If only the damned malady had killed him…

"Did you obtain this ailment before you came to Gralea?" The princess could feel how taunt he was, how his arms began to assimilate her into him.

"Yes…"

He acquired it long before that.

"Is it…connected to the scars?" Imperatrix turned a little to kiss the blemished palm near her cheek.

"It is the cause of them."

Agonized resentment poured so heavily from Ardyn that she moved upward to smooth her lips over every bit of his face.

The princess would ask no more of the man.

"I love you, Ardyn. I wish that was enough to mend you."

The chancellor rolled them, unquenchable yearning driving him to begin divesting Imperatrix of clothing. She objected weakly to the advances, concerned about his health.

The zealous way he pawed at her proved that his episode had reached its conclusion.

"Won't you tell me it again, Dearest Musa?" Ardyn implored breathlessly.

"I love you, so, so much. I've never stopped…" Imperatrix declared her feelings over and over at his request, the meaning of each confession growing with every chip of the mosaic meticulously crafted to beguile and divert.

The man cursed himself.

Why was he doing this her? To himself?

She deserved far better than the scourge of Eos...

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"The others shall be here by late evening. In the morning we can be off." Imperatrix poured some tea, passing the saucer to Lunafreya.

She hummed in acknowledgement.

They were sequestered in the hotel room, having a late lunch since the oracle was slow to rise, still lethargic and weak.

The blonde joined awareness much sooner than the last time. Three days of sleep versus the week of sleep from the previous rite.

Hopefully, Lunafreya was getting stronger.

"Is something wrong?" The princess noted how depressed the girl was, picking at her food and hardly speaking.

Even Umbra and PRyna were moodily sitting at their master's feet.

The splendor of the room, the balcony doors open, drapes fluttering from the wind, scents of a good meal, all of this should've been enough to put anyone in a good mood.

Yet, the brightest singularity in the room dimmed.

"Do not mind me…" Lunafreya deflected mindlessly.

Imperatrix mildly rolled her eyes, putting down her phone to give the oracle her full attention. "Lunafreya…you must learn to open up. To build rapport requires willingness form both parties."

She blinked, mind coming out of its haze to gawk at the woman across from her.

"If you are tired, I can go out for you to have the room to yourself?"

"No!" The oracle bursted out.

Uncertainty tinted the snow-haired woman.

"I am not tired."

Imperatrix didn't want to contradict Lunafreya, but the blonde didn't look great with pallidness and eye-bags.

Goodness, she was faring no better than Ardyn had a few days ago.

The chancellor left yesterday, a hundred-percent back to his energetic self, like fever never took hold of him. He'd kissed her goodbye with a promise to return with a surprise.

Since one surprise had already been good, the next was sure to be unpleasant. Buttering her up before he knocked her off kilter was the pattern of the imp.

Up and down, round and round, Ardyn couldn't be consistent. The man had to be on the top or on the bottom of the wheel…

"I want to go outside…" Lunafreya muttered timidly after being under Imperatrix's worried staring for minutes.

The princess snapped out of her reverie. "Outside?"

"Yes. I want to do…something…"

She remembered how happy it made her to go shopping in Insomnia. The oracle was allowed to go into as many stores as she wanted.

Imperatrix had been a patient chaperone and informative teacher throughout the experience. The princess had been that way for much of their time together…

That outing wasn't the suffocating affair she had to put up with in Tenebrae. Guards following her, speaking for her, and doing the purchasing for her just made everything unbearable.

All but forced to be a spectator in her own life.

She was tired of being cooped up in rooms, tired of having no say, tired of being weak!

Lunafreya was fatigued with it all…

"There is something we can do…" Imperatrix rolled her foot, apprehensive for what she had in mind. "I am not sure how agreeable you will be to it."

The blonde tilted her head, eyebrows furrowing. "Is it to do with imperial business?"

"No." She quickly shot down with a snort, leaning on her knuckles. "See…Tempesta went out on a mission and it…did not go well. She is in a slump now."

"Tempesta? In a slump?" Her look of disbelief got a longer sigh out of Imperatrix.

"I know she seems continually lively, but my little Darling does have lows." The princess smiled sadly, thinking both girls needed an outing. "Tempesta, called me to go clubbing with her. A good time is her solution to everything."

What a "good time" consisted of varied on the younger Besithia's mood.

Beating a person to a pulp was for when she was angry or angry on someone else's behalf. Partying was for when she wanted to float on the cloud nine of booze instead of walking through the hellfire of life.

" _Clubbing_? What is that?" Lunafreya's face sparkled in the way it did when exposed to a new normalcy an average person wouldn't bat an eye at.

"It is like dancing at a ball. In a much more confined space, with lots of people and louder music." She explained as simply as possible, wincing for the more delicate explanations that would be needed for the innocent girl's sake.

"Furia throws balls. If 'clubbing' is similar to that, then I would not mind going."

The oracle had been aghast to have dozens of strangers in her home when her sister-in-law first started hosting social gatherings.

The manor was her prison and sanctuary. She didn't want it invaded with imperials!

Her reservations were swept under the rug after Furia forcibly dragged her around the balls, conversing with the noble families of Tenebrae. A custom she'd fallen out of after the death of the queen.

Those gatherings were the second princess's method of ingraining herself to the people she now lived among. It was also a method for the oracle to connect with her forgotten people outside her duties as the healer and voice of The Six.

Maybe if she spent less time ignoring the imperial guests and actually spoke with them, Lunafreya wouldn't have so much bottled up resentment.

She had to be above the vices…but it was so hard…

"If you are to go out, then you will need a dress." Imperatrix mussed out loud.

The selections Tempesta threw into her suitcase wouldn't be suitable for Lunafreya, nor would they fit the girl.

For a maiden of holy virtue, the blonde possessed a body built for sin…

Ample cleavage surpassing hers, angular curves to fill out clothing better than her, and the beautiful visage of a cherub.

No wonder her retainer insisted on calling the blonde "Lunar Temple". Terrible Men would do anything to defile her.

Oh, gods…

Imperatrix would have to keep a hundred eyes on the girl. At the club, males would be all over Lunafreya!

"Does Lestallum have shops with suitable attire?" The oracle inquired with a skeptical study of the city outside the window.

She'd seen the native women in pants and more rugged clothing. The atmosphere of the city wasn't formal like Lunafreya was used to in the east.

Much of Lucis felt more laid-back than anything in the empire…

"Oh, no need to fret. I am sure they have plenty of stores." Imperatrix stated, already having seen the many bars and clubs in the city.

Having so many entertainment establishments was so sure to yield stores catering to that brand.

"If you say so."

"Finish eating and we can go." The princess stood from the table.

She mournfully gathered the laptop and binders off her bed.

There'd be no more work getting done today.

Blighted, lovable, Ardyn had left more of his work with her to complete on his behalf. Typical noble matters that he didn't care for.

She was now in charge of distributing land holdings, ennobling rising courtiers, stripping corrupt nobles, and the most tedious of all, accepting and rejecting party invitations for the chancellor.

Hah!

If Imperatrix wanted to be cruel, she could forward acceptances to every function. Ardyn would be forced to attend and deal with pompous aristocrats pandering for his favor.

She wouldn't be that mean to him…

He did have the consideration to share his plans for the royal progress with her, making Imperatrix aware of the younger princess's movements.

Ardyn listened to her input on the project, making adjustments based on her first-hand knowledge of their territory's loyalties.

Who better to judge, than the commander who surveyed the lands for the duration of her exile?

The emperor wouldn't be joining the tour. She didn't know how to feel about that…

"Imperatrix, we are ready to go." Lunafreya signaled for her, waiting by the door with her dogs.

The princess studied the oracle.

"What is it?"

A hat she'd bought earlier for the girl was produced and held out.

"That again? I assure you, the heat will not make me faintish." Lunafreya frowned at the coddling.

Imperatrix had pushed for her to wear the hat during her discharge out of the hospital. She'd gone along with because the sun had been too much for her sensitive eyes.

It was completely unnecessary now.

"Humor me. The doctor said to take it easy."

The real reason for the headwear hadn't been disclosed to the girl.

"Alright." She put it on just to get going, securing her hair into the item.

"It is very pretty on you." Imperatrix added to cheer her.

Adorable was more apt, but she knew it would displease the recipient of the compliment.

Most importantly, the hat disguised Lunafreya's features. If Iris tailed them, she wouldn't be able to immediately tell it was the oracle.

Some sunglasses would have doubled the effect, but then the blonde would appear too tropical for the grungy city. The white lace dress was already too nice, no need to make the noble upbringing stand out more.

"Do you have a favorite color?" Imperatrix asked as they walked the busy streets.

The dogs faithfully trotted behind them.

"Blue."

She gave the oracle a knowing grin. "Like the blue of sylleblossoms?"

"Yes. Not very creative of me, is it?"

"No, but they are your country's flower. I cannot fault you for the favoritism." Her grin gained a measure of playfulness. "Or do you prefer the blue of a certain prince?"

Lunafreya blushed to the tips of her ear and down her neck. "Imperatrix!"

She dissolved into laughter, and funnily enough, the oracle found it infectious. She laughed with the princess, chest lighting with an easiness unfamiliar to her.

The pair looked like the average friends out for a day of leisure.


	15. Chapter 15

"Oh, my god! Look at Lunar Temple trying to be sexy!" Tempesta teetered on the edge of her seat, hands flying in disbelief.

The view would probably be even more astonishing if she weren't looking through the monitor of her visor.

"I-I do not…think this is appropriate…" Lunafreya huddled in on herself, arms fruitlessly attempting to cover her exposed cleavage from the audience.

Even with the helmet separating them from being face-to-face, she could feel the leer lurking behind the screen and shivered self-consciously.

If anyone from home could see her, especially the priests, or heaven forbid, the cardinal…they'd scream out their lungs for her impropriety.

Clothes were meant to conceal, not reveal. Women were never meant to flaunt their appearances for that led to temptation and the eventual corruption of the female. Lessons as these had been drilled into her head by the men of the church.

How could Lunafreya be expected to go outside in this scandalous dress?!

"I agree. That dress is far too risqué for her. Why did you even pick it out, Tempesta?" Imperatrix tapped her foot on the floor, exasperated from the girl's shenanigans.

At this rate, they'd never leave the department store.

Multiple outfits had been tossed at the oracle to try on by the fist fighter, and each more outrageous than the last. The princess's selections were denied before they could be given to Lunafreya and so Imperatrix was sidelined into spectator, rather than assistant like she wanted.

Wild and flashy didn't suit Lunafreya like it did for Tempesta.

"Cause it couldn't hurt and I'm sick of these prissy, virginal, abbess outfits she sports." The younger Besithia flicked her hand flippantly. "Dammit, girl! I'm ready to gouge my eyes out if I have to look at one more pristine, white dress from you!"

"Imperatrix consistently wears white as well." Lunafreya retorted, forgetting to hold up the top portion of the dress. "Most everyone in this group does."

"Are you blind? She at least has other colors in the outfits. Every freaking piece clothing you have is white!" She jabbed her finger at the oracle's exposed white bra. "You put us imperials to shame!"

"Will you two lower your voices?!" Imperatrix whispered harshly at the store employees sending them scathing looks for the disturbance.

They were lucky not too many people were in the store, otherwise their identities would most certainly be blown.

Tempesta let out an immature noise at the reprimand, slouching unladylike in her seat. She'd been emotionally charged since meeting up with them.

"Is this truly what females wear to clubs?" Lunafreya tugged on the bottom of the short green apparel, sighing in defeat when she couldn't get it to cover everything as she wanted.

It felt as though the slightest movement would flash her bottom and top.

No, no, no.

She couldn't possibly wear this!

"Yup, so quit whining." The fist fighter then gestured to the dressing room. "That's a big fat no. Try something else, Lunar Temple. We haven't got all day."

"I do wish you would stop calling me that." She remarked with a disgruntled backward glance as she waddled to the changing area.

Alone for a moment, Imperatrix took ahold of Tempesta'a hand, squeezing it in a show of compassion. The girl refused to look in the princess's direction, loosely holding onto the support.

"Don't wanna talk about it, Impera."

"I understand. Nonetheless…I am here for you here, Darling."

She wobbled in her seat and it was obvious that the younger Besithia was fighting off an urge to sniffle. The emergence of the oracle quickly made Tempesta lurch out of the slouch.

"This is better." Lunafreya smoothed her hands over the long, light, dress that was a shade off being white.

Barely an improvement to the previous complaint. The masked female groaned.

"No." Imperatrix immediately rejected.

"Why not?! It appropriately adorns me."

"One, you cannot wear white to a club, it will get dirty instantaneously. Two, you will sweat profusely in that. Three, everyone will step on your train. Four, you will stand out in an evening gown." She ticked off all the points with a nonnegotiable deadpan.

She'd told the girl not to select anything out of the prom section, but of course Lunafreya had to be hard-headed, doing the opposite of what the imperial said.

Some habits wouldn't be coming to a stop.

In the oracle's defense, the prom division was the closest thing to noble wear. Not surprising for a princess to gravitate towards them.

"I have never had this much trouble selecting an ensemble for an outing." Lunafreya huffed, going back to the dressing room for the tenth time.

Imperatrix looked to her retainer, mouth curling into a grimace. "Was I this bad the first time we went shopping?"

"Ramuh strike me with lightning! You were a million times worse!" Tempesta laughed, legs and arms flying out in accordance with her blunt admission. "You wouldn't stop picking dresses with trains. You cape-obsessed freak!"

Man, she remembered that god-awful day.

" _How many times do I have to tell you? Normal people don't wear things like that, you Shitty Princess!" The younger Besithia screamed at the princess modeling off a dress meant for wining and dining with some dandy from court._

 _Deflated, Imperatrix was very close to tears from how much she'd been berated by her retainer. Worse, her head hurt from having the girl periodically pelt her with shoes for every wrong choice._

 _What had she done to deserve such a perverted, violent, disrespectful servant?! Why did her father even bring the girl to her?!_

 _Nebula was all she needed and even he didn't like dealing with another one of his siblings._

 _Tempesta's arrival in her life couldn't heal the ache in her chest from losing Pompeia. Her father was so wrong for thinking this blonde storm could possibly replace her sweet, little sister!_

" _Quit making that mopey face and try again!"_

 _Another shoe impacted with Imperatrix's head and she stumbled, hitting a trolley and getting tangled up in the clothes. The embarrassment of her folly and the accompanying laughter crumbled the princess's composure. Tears leaked out of her eyes._

 _Too much, it was all too much!_

" _What? Did you get stuck? Aren't princesses supposed to be elegant?" Tempesta taunted mercilessly, yanking off some of the clothes to reveal Imperatrix. "W-What?!"_

 _She froze up at the sight of the older woman sobbing soundlessly while staring at the ceiling._

" _U-Uh, uh…I didn't…" The blonde fumbled with speech and action, eyes darting around for a solution._

 _At the approach of the store employees, the younger Besithia gained a spark of insight and kept the strangers out of range of the princess by barking at them to leave._

 _Nebula had made it clear to her that Imperatrix should never end up in a compromising situation while under her protection. This incident probably wasn't what the stone-faced jerk had in mind, but fell into the category of compromising._

" _Hey." Tempesta kicked the other woman, snapping her out of the stupor enough to moan in pain. "Why are you crying?"_

 _Imperatrix stared, mouth moving without sound. The blonde sighed heavily, aggressively untangling the captive and then dragging her into a dressing room._

" _Why are you crying?! Aren't you a princess?! You're not supposed to cry." She repeated once the sobbing lump collapsed onto the bench._

" _I am a human as well and I am not weak for feeling things!" Imperatrix exploded, standing to her full height to tower over the younger female. "I can get angry for people wronging me! I can be so sad, as to crack, crumble, and collapse until my heart can no longer bear it!"_

 _Automatically, Tempesta's arms went out to catch the princess as she sank to the ground, trembling from the force of tragedy. She sat on the ground, watching the display without understanding._

" _I have lost my mother. I have lost my baby brothers, Alexius and Zeno. I have lost my sister, Pompeia… It is all too much…"_

" _So you're crying cause your siblings are gone?"_

 _The simple way Tempesta spoke irked the princess into glaring. "I could also list every comrade and citizen we recently lost in the savage attack by the Frostbearer!"_

" _Geez…he warned me you were a bleeding heart. I didn't take Nebula seriously since he had that stupid, blank face when he said it. You're dramatic as hellfire too..." The blonde shoved the other woman. "Quit moping! There's nothing you can do about dead people!"_

 _Why the heck did Imperatrix care so much?_

 _Tempesta didn't blink whenever one of her siblings died. They were quickly replaced with another by their mad-scientist father._

 _Why get hung up over that kind of thing?_

 _She even heard the princess made a huge deal over Nebula's excessive injuries after the battle with the god was over. Dumbass shouldn't spare that kind of emotion on someone easily replaceable._

 _For all her supposed care, Imperatrix didn't even realize that Nebula was…_

" _You may be right…but I… I do not know if I can stop." The princess muttered defeatedly._

 _There was no point in further arguing with the girl. She was the opposite of her brother, unwilling to empathize or understand. Not to mention she was volatile and if an actual fight developed between the two, the store would come out damaged._

 _The emperor would surely punish her for the destruction and for giving the paparazzi more ammo to use against their family._

 _The Aldercapts couldn't weather another riot._

 _Another death…_

" _Will you stop already?! I don't like you depressed!" Tempesta complained pettily, lowering her voice into a mocking parody. "Be happy, alright?! Give the world a smile so bright the sun is jealous!"_

 _She blinked, not expecting such sappy wording from a vulgar loudmouth._

" _Don't look at me like that. Nebula used those words to describe you when I was being briefed on my new master." The younger Besithia scoffed. "I don't like you enough to use that shitty, flowery speech in association of you."_

" _He did?" The white-haired woman laughed, feeling some of the weight lift from her chest._

 _She'd been so worried when they carted him off on a stretcher, blood seeping out of his chest from the icicles protruding from the area. Wounds like that would've killed a normal person, but somehow he'd survived, returning as her retainer with only some memory loss as a consequence._

 _He should've never been on that battle field in the first place! Loyalty made him follow her and take a death-blow meant for her._

 _Nebula was her first cherished friend._

 _If there was any silver lining in the storm of death, his survival was among the small mercies._

" _You're not like…in love with Nebula...are you?" Tempesta wearily gazed at Imperatrix, an ugly secret tickling the back of her throat._

 _That empty, robotic, killer wasn't the person the princess was thinking of…_

" _Excuse me? Where are you getting that from?! Nebula is my friend, perhaps even a brother…not ever a lover!" She replied, horrified at the thought of having a heart's longing for the elder Besithia._

 _It was inconceivable for her heart soar for anyone other than a mysterious red-head with a penchant for theatrics and exhibit of sophistication._

 _The very thought of Ardyn flushed her cheeks and banished the last of crushing agony._

 _The world might try to convince her that feelings made a person weak, but she wouldn't ever give in to that doctrine. Never would a cruel world steal the spark of her emotions._

 _To be soft..._

 _She couldn't let the world make her hard, couldn't let the pain make her hate. Bitterness wouldn't steal her sweetness…_

" _Phew! That's a relief. It'd be weird watching you bone him…kinda like you boning me…"_

 _"Um...what do you-"_

 _Tempesta cocked her head, lopsided grin re-emerging and spoke over the woman. "And you're smiling, somewhat... Guess ya finally listened to my awesome advice. That shitty depression was getting you nowhere!"_

 _She jumped up. Imperatrix gaped, mind still stuck on the previous portion of speech._

" _Well, don't just sit there! You still gotta pick something out."_

" _Tempesta…perhaps this would be more successful if you showed me what civilians wear." The princess conceded to the demand for the sake of her time, health, and sanity._

" _Fine, you loser. Dumb princess has to be catered to in every way." The fist fighter hissed with less bite than before, once more dragging the taller woman around without a care._

 _The employees stared, dumbfounded at the girl's shifting harmony. Now they were fighting over something entirely different._

 _The princess scrambled to prevent her retainer from undressing her in a hurried effort to pick something. It was an unorthodox scene that the workers studiously turned their backs on, when the blonde threatened them with bloody murder if she caught any of them gawking._

" _Stop, stop! I'll be naked if this continues!" Imperatrix squeaked, no match for the superior strength of Tempesta._

 _Brought down to her undergarments in the corner of the store, she sighed miserably._

" _Who cares?! It's nothing but chicks in here and don't you change in front of your military guys?" The younger Besithia tossed the offensive party wear into the face of a peeking employee._

" _That is completely different…"_

" _Huh? Who knew you liked lacy underwear."_

 _Mortified, Imperatrix's hands covered herself from leering blue eyes._

" _Who's the lucky guy?" She beamed fiendishly, eyebrows waggling with perversion._

 _She choked, mind reeling from this entire experience._

 _Why had she agreed to Tempesta's insistence of visiting a club for her eighteenth birthday?!_

 _Fostering a better working relationship between them was beginning to be of little concern to Imperatrix. The princess didn't know how much more she could put up with the girl's terrible manners._

" _Here. Something like this is what I see city chicks wear. It's mild enough for you."_

 _A burgundy sequin dress barreled into Imperatrix's face with enough force to send her neck backwards._

" _This? It is…gaudy…" She appraised the apparel after removing it, holding it over her semi-nude form._

" _That's the point, dumbass!" The other female proudly displayed a black and gold checkered dress for herself. "You want to stand out and have everyone drool over you. That's the allure!"_

 _The princess blinked._

 _Could this be the way Tempesta distinguished herself? In a sea of similar faces, dressing skimpily and behaving boisterously were her methods of originality?_

 _To a degree Imperatrix could understand the rationality of the younger Besithia's actions._

 _Furia complained constantly that there was no avenue for her to shine with her older sister monopolizing activities and used that as excuse to disregard the duties expected of a princess to party and fool around with handsome nobles._

 _She didn't know how to fix the complex brewing in the second princess…_

 _Why couldn't the pinkette be as simple to please as little Euphemia?_

" _What do you know. The Shitty Princess has got a body under all that shiny armor."_

 _Imperatrix sighed for the umpteenth time at the vulgar address from her retainer. Instinctively, she wanted to cover herself from the lecherous assessment, but knew that would promote further teasing and so kept her arms by her side while Tempesta circled her._

" _Must you address me so offensively? Simply referring to me as princess is fine."_

" _When I feel like being nice to you, I will." The fist fighter snarked, stopping in front of the woman and nodding in approval. "Heh. Nebula is gonna have to beat people up for sure when they spot you."_

 _A swivel and Imperatrix caught her reflection in the mirror. The dress didn't look bad on her and the color reminded her of the chancellor._

 _Too bad Ardyn had left Gralea for an assignment. He wouldn't get to see her dressed nicely..._

" _Tonight's gonna be killer!" Tempesta boasted to her reflection._

 _Still wrapped in thoughts of a red-headed man, Imperatrix's tone came out sweetly. "I know it will, Darling."_

 _The younger Besithia stiffened from a hand hovering near her head. Were it not for the general air of softness about the princess, she would have snapped at the woman to keep her hands to herself._

" _I can do your hair and then you shall look even more stunning than I."_

" _Yeah, right." The blonde huffed, moodily scowling at the hair she'd started growing out on Imperatrix's request._

 _The spiky locks were only a little longer than the princess's, the ends reaching her shoulders. Before, it used to look like all the other Besithia rejects because that was what the old man wanted._

 _Looking like every other mini Verstael, her body was just about the only other way to stand out. The barcode being the other, but who had time to distinguish all those numbers?_

 _The princess's strokes to the girl's head were soothing. "It is your night, Tempesta. You will shine, I promise."_

That party had been something else…

It was at that point that the fist fighter stopped being an absolute hassle to the princess. The fear of being replaced, or worse…an unwanted addition...began to fade after so much time around the bleeding heart.

Sometimes…

Tempesta wished she could've been like Nebula and given to Imperatrix from the beginning, instead of spending so many screwed up years with Verstael.

Maybe then she would've been normal enough for…

"I believe we have a winner." Imperatrix announced, zipping up the back for Lunafreya.

Slamming out the dark thoughts, the younger Besithia hopped out her chair to circle the model. "Finally, something decent."

The girl blushed, tilting her head in wonder for the reflection before her.

The dress was a light creme color, held up by straps, of an adequate length, and comfortable to move in. In this outfit with her hair freed from its usual style, she looked twenty-four.

She smiled, feeling a twinge of freedom.

Lunafreya looked like a young woman, not the holy oracle…

"No wonder Sour-Face kept you locked up. All of this would've drove dudes mad." The fist fighter poked at the lighter blonde's chest that looked even bigger with the boost of the dress.

"What are you doing?!" The oracle screamed, bumping into Imperatrix as she flew from the invasive touching.

"Checking out your goods." She grabbed at Lunafreya's hips next, pinching and squeezing. "Man, why's the world gotta be unfair? I want a body like you and Impera!"

Tempesta barely had a body next to these two vixens. Her breast and hips had grown, but still weren't anything to drool over. At this point her body wouldn't get any sexier unless…

"I'm leaving."

"Why?!" Imperatrix questioned the abruptness of the fist fighter's decision.

"Gonna get ready first and meet you there." She snatched up her items from the chair, moroseness following her to the register.

The princess was thrown off and her chest twinged with the need to pursue her depressed friend, but experience proved that Tempesta would be closed-off until she decided to express herself.

All she could do was wait and give the girl space.

"I am done." Lunafreya appeared in her regular clothes, prospective material neatly folded over her arm. "Where did Tempesta go?"

"Ah, not yet." Imperatrix wagged her finger and pointed to the other section of the store. "Now you get to choose shoes."

She blinked, looking from the princess to her own heels.

"Those will not do. They are dirty and worn." The woman answered the unspoken protest.

Indeed, the originally white heels accumulated dirt from the travels, obtaining a brown hue. The oracle nodded grimly, accepting the second mission in the face of her transformed foot-wear.

With her off, Imperatrix used the time to browse through the accessories for Lunafreya to speed up the process. She could've bought a new outfit like the girls, but the princess felt it prudent to be frugal with her dwindling account.

The hospital bill took out a chunk of money, particularly the scans she'd gotten for Nyx. She was worried about his lapses and disorientation.

There were also the moments she caught him grimacing in pain while he clutched his arm or face. He shouldn't still be feeling pain from the burns, but maybe the injuries were so traumatic that his brain was sending phantom pains.

Between Lunafreya and Nyx's expenses, those hunts were more necessary than she let on. Imperatrix literally couldn't afford to keep paying for everything.

The funds she received as crown princess were carefully balanced for projects at home. Emergencies were the only occasions that Imperatrix touched that account. Otherwise, she endeavored to sustain herself on an imperial commander's salary.

Thankfully, Nyx's competitive streak with her came in handy. He and Lunafreya had a good bit of gil on them now.

The oracle was flummoxed to be given an allowance by the glaive, but quickly got over it when he insisted on buying cellphones for them. The two purchased basic phones for communication.

Nebula cracked up over the older models when everyone traded numbers. The gunman was so used to touch-screen devices that anything else was ancient to him.

Needless to say, his guffawing ticked the glaive off and he entered Nebula in his phone as "Psychopath". The jibe didn't phase him as much as Nyx thought it would.

"What next, Imperatrix?" Lunafreya asked with a mixture of exasperation and humor, holding her bags out of reach from her curious dogs.

"We head back to the room and get ready."

The princess took some of the bags off the girl and they headed for the hotel. Tempesta wasn't inside the room she was sharing with the oracle, which meant she must've been in Imperatrix's.

Hopefully, the room wouldn't look like a tornado hit.

Why did both her retainers have to be messy people?

"No, no! You cannot wear your hair in the usual style." Imperatrix interjected as Lunafreya automatically began braiding her freshly washed hair.

The oracle looked up from the mirror, casting confusion towards the princess.

"Lets try something different. Wait there and I will return with my kit."

The white-haired woman went from one room to another, relived to find hers still tidy. She quickly browsed through the suitcase for what was needed. Kit found, she approached the closed bathroom door, knocking on it.

"Tempesta, are alright?"

The sound of running water cut off and the door was yanked open.

"I'm just peachy!" The fist fighter exclaimed too loudly.

She was already spruced up in a two piece ensemble of a dark gold halter-top and skirt. Her hair had been styled with the long strands spiking out like the mane of a lion. Makeup made her blue eyes appear feline and bold.

The cat was out to play.

"Have you already started drinking?"

Those cheeks of hers were flushed and a slight smell of alcohol wafted off the fist fighter.

"Duh! It's called pre-game drinking." The younger Besithia slunk past the princess, heeled boots clicking loudly. "Those stinking mimosas were weak as shit though. I want something stronger!"

She retrieved her phone from the inside of her boot, smashing her fingers on the screen.

Imperatrix listened to the girl go back and forth with Nebula about heading to the club early for her to drink. Surprisingly, they came to an agreement.

"I hope you do not drink yourself into comas." The princess voiced as the fist fighter went for the door.

"That's the plan, Impera." She gave a double thumbs-up with a stupid grin.

Imperatrix hoped that this destructiveness would be a one-nighter. She'd rather the girl talk to her and receive comfort from a friend rather than the comfort of a bottle and whatever other ridiculous behavior Tempesta chose to participate in.

She was completely over dragging home females in a repetitive cycle of blackouts, dalliances, and narcotics. Furia, Pompeia, and Tempesta had each cost her a number of nights, worried and strung-out over their antics.

The downside to being an elder sibling…always fretting over the younger ones…

The princess shouldn't have let her retainer approach Cor…

"How would you like your hair, Lunafreya?" Imperatrix finished setting up an impromptu salon in the bathroom, waving the styling tool around in preparation as she combed through the girl's hair with a small exhale of wistfulness.

"I would like a braid." She didn't feel right going without one, it was a Tenebraen trend.

If she were honest with herself…

Lunafreya wore braids so often in remembrance of Ravus first doing them for her when she couldn't be bothered to do it herself. After losing their mother it was hard for her to get out bed, let alone worry about looking presentable.

Those might have been the singular instances where her brother's forceful nature was warranted. Without him forcing her out of bed, dressing her, and feeding her, Lunafreya would've wasted away the first year of Queen Sylva's death.

"I suppose…it would not be too obvious if I do it differently…" Imperatrix got to work on the pale blonde hair at the stubbornness of the oracle.

Thoughts of the second princess came to mind.

The day of Furia's wedding had been a whirlwind of preparation with the eldest Aldercapt taking over the servant's job of grooming the bride since she tore into them without remorse over the littlest things, but curbed the attitude for her older sister.

She was a severe case of cold feet the morning of the ceremony. Unsurprising, seeing as she was an eighteen year-old getting married to a man eight years older, and unfortunately, one that didn't have the best opinion of her.

Ravus was downright belligerent when he found out he wouldn't be tied to Imperatrix, but Furia, the hotheaded disaster.

Imperatrix came very close to striking the man for his loose tongue. As pleased as she was that he viewed her favorably enough to show disappointment, that didn't give the prince of Tenebrae the right to insult her sister.

The marriage was meant to bind Tenebrae to Gralea in a more permanent and peaceful manner. It was also a solution to a large, glaring issue.

Neither Fleuret siblings could be allowed to ascend as a sovereign of their country while the label of traitor hung over their pale, angelic, blonde heads. An unfavorablee punishment levied on them after the regrettable death of the queen.

Someone had to be held accountable for the Lucians unlawful presence in Niflheim...and it fell on two royal children.

However, the emperor didn't fancy Tenebrae remaining ungoverned and wanted to continue the monarchy as he did in the other territories. The solution to the problem was marriage between an Aldercapt and a Fleuret, for with one of their own in the Holy City, another treasonous action wasn't likely.

Once a child was born from the union, Ravus would once again bear the title of royal prince.

"This is nice." Lunafreya commented, smiling at the outcome of the princess's work.

The sides were braided and tied into a bun at the back of her head with the rest curled and flowing over her shoulders. Light makeup had been applied to her face for a natural look.

"Now, do not take this the wrong way…but there are some ground rules…" Imperatrix prompted, carefully laying her hands on the oracle's shoulders at the smile rapidly declining on her face.

"Here we go…" She muttered frostily and an annoyed expression wanted to cross the princess's face, but she schooled her features and evened out her tone.

Amazing, how the girl had no problem being a salty brat. Where was that kind air she gave out to the general populace?

"You cannot use your full name while we are there. Nor can you go by Luna, it is too obvious."

Lunafreya perked up a little at the minor stipulation, expecting something worse to be demanded of her.

"How does going by _Freya_ sound to you? Still your name and it is not likely to draw suspicion." Imperatrix began the process of gathering her things. "And remember to call me _Em_ and not Imperatrix."

"I have never been called by that portion of my name." The oracle unfolded her hands to study the callousness of the once soft skin.

So many new experiences on this journey…

"Next…" She sucked in a breath, deadly serious for the following part. "You cannot leave with any man outside of Nyx."

For a minute or two, Lunafreya just stared blankly, not at all comprehending the insinuation.

"You are bound to be asked and you are an adult…but… It simply complicates things."

"Why would I leave with someone I do not know?" The look of befuddlement continued and the oracle looked at the princess like she'd lost her mind. "Why would a stranger even ask me to go with them? Will they require healing?"

Now, Imperatrix was the one making a face of incredulity and the awkwardness got to her. Her head lowered onto the crown of Lunafreya's and her hands squeezed the girl's shoulders.

"I-Imperatrix?" She'd tensed from the contact, but soon relaxed, tilting her head upward to gauge the issue.

An exhale later and the princess leaned on the counter of the sink. She decided to go for the frank path versus tiptoeing around the issue like another woman might.

"You have been educated on sex, yes?"

"What does that have do with—" Her affronted temperament cracked from realization and she withdrew in the seat. "Why would anyone—"

The oracle couldn't even finish her sentence, too flustered.

"Because you are beautiful, Lunafreya." The princess answered simply. "Of course men would want you in that manner."

"Yes, but…" The blush escalated from cheek to ears from the candidness.

Immediately, Lunafreya's thoughts went to Noctis possibly seeing her in that light. Her mind couldn't fathom the quiet, sweet boy looking at her with anything other than affection and admiration, like she was the smartest person in the world.

Just thinking of the dark-haired prince looking at her with desire stunned her and her skin prickled with mortification.

"P-People just do that?! How…how shameful… It's supposed to be for marriage…"

Imperatrix covered a laugh with her hand. People hardly played by the old ways, herself included.

She failed to be virtuous, enticed by a red-haired devil.

Lunafreya would most certainly rail if her lie to the girl was uncovered. It was embarrassing that she'd even lied in the first place, but the princess had still been angry with Ardyn…

It hadn't been a total fabrication…

"Men will try to flirt with you. If they offer to buy you a drink, do not let them give it to you. Either decline the offer or go with them to the bar." Imperatrix imparted more serious tips to the novice. " _Never_ accept a drink you did not see the bartender prepare."

"Why is that?" At the turn in conversation, the oracle's nervous state receded.

"You could end up drugged by someone slipping something into your drink if you are not paying attention."

"Drugged?! What for?!"

"For a man…or woman…to take advantage of you." Imperatrix's frowned at her hands, the same ones that saw so much fighting. "Our world can be a dark place."

The oracle paled and she felt bad for scaring her, but better for her to be aware of possible consequences. The princess wouldn't forgive herself if something did happen to the girl.

"There is never one layer to things, is there?" Lunafreya mumbled, clenching at the bottom of her dress.

"Do you still want to go? What I warned you about does not happen often, it is more of a worst-case scenario."

She nodded slowly, a little hesitance in the action, but her willful nature won out. "I do not wish to forgo any new experiences."

In an emergence of affection, Imperatrix brushed the blonde's bangs aside, finger lightly caressing the cheek. "After I get ready, we will leave."

She packed the items into the kit, going to her room to finally take care of herself.

In less time than it took to prepare the oracle, the princess collapsed onto the couch to tackle the last step, strapping on her heels.

Loud banging on the door startled her into dropping the shoe.

"Who in the world?" Imperatrix opened the door with one person in mind for the rude disturbance.

"We gotta talk!" Nyx barged in without preamble, all temper and thunder as he stomped around. "I'm gonna kill Nebula!"

She was entirely shocked by his explosive outburst, never really encountering this level emotion from a male. Even her father had never yelled like this when he punished her.

Caught off guard as she was, Imperatrix didn't register the glaive storming up to her and pointing at himself.

"Look what he did to me!"

At first there didn't appear to be a problem to the princess.

The man was dressed in dark jeans and a navy dress shirt, unbuttoned midway to show off his chest and rolled up to the elbows to show off his arms. The clothing couldn't be the snag and she didn't see any injuries on Nyx that would upset him.

Looking directly at his face to voice her puzzlement was what made it click.

Gone was the mohawk and fuzzy sides. In its place a classical style of hair groomed behind the ear, and to the other side, the hair a curtain for the face. The beard had been trimmed down, a trail from one sideburn to another with the path diverting around the mouth.

Nyx looked less wild and more respectable.

"Well?!" He pressed, drawing the woman back into the present.

"Forgive me for any insensitivity to your cultural norms…but I see no issue. I rather like it." Imperatrix confessed honestly.

Nebula's barber skills were brilliant.

"You like _this_?" The glaive faltered, aghast that she was looking at him with a faint blush.

This…this wasn't Galahdian at all! He couldn't remember the last time he had a full set of hair and not a kind of mohawk.

It felt weird as hell…

"Yes. You look very handsome." The princess returned to the couch now that Nyx was reasonably calm. "When did Nebula get the chance to cut your hair?"

"Asshole shot me with a tranq right after he got off the phone with Tempesta." He followed her example, sprawling out next to her and glaring to get his point home. "That's the last time that shit flys. Any more and I'll _knock him out_!"

"I imagine you two did not come to an understanding over hunting?" She rhetorically stated. "And here I thought a _manly activity_ would do the trick."

"It didn't. We still hate each other."

Imperatrix tsked as her shoe proved uncooperative for some reason.

"Here, let me." Nyx pulled on her leg, forcing the princess to twist on the couch to accommodate him taking a hack at the heel.

"Who said you could do that?!" She squeezed her legs together to prevent a flashing.

"Chill, I'm trying to help you." He didn't look up from the task, going for the second foot when done with the first. "Give me the shoe."

Imperatrix was resistant to the order, scowling at him.

"Quit looking at me like that. You order me around, it's only fair I order you around some too."

"Who are you to give me orders?"

"Fine. We can just sit here then." Nyx's yield was uncharacteristic and made her edgy. "I can entertain myself."

She shrieked as his hand went from the bottom of her leg to a little under her dress. The action unnecessarily tingled.

"Woah, your skin's as smooth as I thought."

"Stop it! Stop touching me!" Imperatrix wouldn't even address how the glaive thought about what she'd feel like in his spare time.

"Then give me the shoe."

"Are you seriously invading my space for something so stupid?!"

"Yeah, so give me the shoe, Impera."

"I will not!" She pushed against his hands and he only tightened the grip.

"I guess you're refusing to cooperate because you want to be touched." Nyx smirked, using both hands explore the skin under the dress as he leaned over the princess. "You were drooling over me."

"I was not _drooling!_ " The scathing expression morphed into a fluttering smile that the glaive knew preceded trouble, but this was a lesson he didn't want to learn from. "I changed my mind, Nyx."

"Yeah?"

What changed? Did she want him?

Damn…did he want her…

"I will get the shoe for you." Imperatrix grasping at his shoulders and giving him the most suggestive look blindsided the glaive and before he knew it, Nyx was on the floor with the princess jamming her shoe against his chest.

"Holy shit!"

She leaned down to pick up the heel and deposited it near his hand, simultaneously adding more pressure to his chest. "Go ahead. Put it on for me."

He gaped at her expectant glower.

"Well?"

"I'm seriously turned on if this is what you meant by seduction. I knew you were a freak!" Nyx concluded the statement with a laugh.

Imperatrix wavered at the implication, removing her foot from the man's chest and stealing back the heel. She sat on the couch's arm to do it herself, hiding how unnerved she was by her display.

Sure Ardyn let her be in control and sometimes it went to her head, but Nyx brought out a domineering quality that she didn't like. It wasn't in her nature to be derisive to someone and that was where her speech headed in response to the glaive challenging her.

"Hey, Impera."

The princess jumped off the couch from the whisper in her ear. "What?! Go away already!"

Nyx ignored her, spinning his finger in a downward circle. "Do a twirl for me."

She rolled her eyes at the roguish grin.

"C'mon, model for me! You've damn sure got the body and looks for it." He crossed his arms, very tempted to pull out his phone and snap a picture.

Hair entirely straightened to flow to her back contrasted the waviness he got used to as Imperatrix grew out her tresses. Decked out in a silver dress that sparkled with a slightly see-through material around the legs and arms had Nyx recalling all the bits of skin he'd seen over their time together and arranging them into an approximation of what he assumed she looked like under the clothes.

"Give Daddy a show." The glaive teased.

Scorching heat consumed her face and the princess threw up her hand to keep Nyx from coming any closer to her. "Don't talk like that to me!"

"Why not? You love every bit of the way I talk to you."

Imperatrix regretted letting him into her room. "Gods! The minute I think well of you, you open your mouth and ruin it!"

"Hey, hey. You're annoying too!" He didn't let her shove him back, pushing against the hands on his chest . "There's a solution to this dilemma though."

Nyx wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in.

A knock at the door got a fervent curse out of the glaive and a relieved sigh out of the princess. She jerked away from him and he let her go with a moody frown.

Lunafreya almost got knocked over from Imperatrix rushing out. She looked to Nyx and blinked.

"Your hair…is different…"

"I know." He shrugged, following after the speeding female.

He needed a drink since the world was set on leaving him dry.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Are you going to pace yourself this time?" Imperatrix asked the oracle as she poured the alcohol into glasses.

She preferred ordering a bottle and drinking from that instead of repeatedly buying from the bar. It ran less risk and was less time-consuming.

"I learn from my mistakes. There will be no repeats." Lunafreya demonstrated by slowly sipping, remembering well how awful and nauseous she felt the morning after trying to out drink Libertus.

She wouldn't be foolish again.

"You better. Neither of us wants to haul you to a bed." Nyx frowned after swallowing the liquid. "I'm too good at mixing. Other stuff just doesn't do it for me."

"You are so full of yourself." The princess rolled her eyes at him bleating about her beverage choice.

The one time he wanted to be gentlemanly, letting her select the drink and he groused about it.

"Oh, please! Admit it, I can top anything they serve here."

"In an effort to not lie, I will acknowledge your skills as a mixologist. However, I am not saying so to inflate your enormous ego."

"That's all I needed to hear, babe." He grinned smugly.

Imperatrix shook her head and leaned on the top of the cushion.

They wound down with a couple of drinks in the VIP section. They were secluded on the upper floor and could see all the other people dancing the night away to the DJ's mixtape.

Lunafreya was overwhelmed by the noise level and abundant activity below. Her eyes darted around swiftly to take in everything, often hounding Imperatrix over things she witnessed.

Nyx laughed as the buzz of alcohol settled in the oracle, opening her up for loud, meaningless chatter. He ended up having to repeat three times to the girl that the things around people's neck were glow sticks and not actual stars or tiny glowing staffs.

Another weird question was why the DJ had a bear for a head, which he had no answer for, and explained that some people styled themselves outrageously to stand out.

The arrival of the Besithia siblings alternated the focus from Lunafreya's jabbering to the blonde twins.

"Who is this?" The glaive prolonged his gaze at Tempesta, not knowing it was her.

The fist fighter paid him no mind, crashing into Imperatrix's lap.

The princess yelped, fumbling to keep her drink from spilling onto the girl. She was also responsible for keeping the wasted female from falling to the floor from Tempesta coiling her arms around Imperatrix's neck and swinging backwards.

Nyx whistled while Nebula scoffed at the buffoonery.

"She's a mess." The gunman was obligated to hunker down beside the glaive with no more room and wasted no time in gulping down the rest of his shot.

"Wait a minute…" Nyx's eyes flickered between the two arrivals. "Are you two—"

Nebula cut him off by introducing himself. "The name's Cloud and that's my sister, Storm. We're friends of Em."

The younger Besithia hooted, still hanging off Imperatrix like a monkey. The princess rearranged the younger girl so she was at least sitting on the couch instead of dangling in the air.

Nyx skeptically took in the information, going ahead with introducing Lunafreya under her alias and using his own name. His name didn't scream unusual and didn't require him to go by something else.

The glaive hadn't seen either of the masked freaks since coming into the club, but the feeling of being watched persisted and he thought they might've been hiding in the rafters or something.

These two conveniently showing up was highly suspicious.

Then again…

The two blondes had different names and acted like normal people. They didn't fit with the imagine Nyx had in mind for the imperials underneath the masks.

Plus…the guy used the princess's alias versus her real name. He couldn't be Nebula...

Was it rude for him to think Imperatrix couldn't have friends in Lucis?

Maybe they were from one of the Niff areas. Lord knew there were too many imperial bases in their country.

"Dance with me, Emmy!" Tempesta screamed over the music.

The princess turned her nose from the overpowering scent of alcohol, hands tugging at the fist fighter's chokehold.

"Good grief! Let her breathe." Nebula chucked an ice cube at his sister.

She freaked out from the sudden coldness trickling down her back and screeched as she fell off Imperatrix's lap.

"Damn, she's wasted!" Nyx gagged on a chuckle, scooting forward to help the female, but he was beaten to the punch.

Tempesta sprung up like there was nothing wrong, whirling on Lunafreya.

"Hey, you wanna dance with me?"

The oracle lit up, pointing to herself for certainty.

"Yeah, yeah!" She grabbed the girl's hand, wrenching her to stand. "Dance, dance revolution!"

The blonde females raced out of the booth, leaving three other people staring. Nyx slid over to the princess's side in the lull.

"Would you look at that. Our little girl has made a friend." He dropped an arm behind Imperatrix's neck. "They grow up so fast, don't they, babe?"

She raised an eyebrow at his overt show of possessiveness.

The freckle siblings weren't the only ones playing games. At some point they were going to have to get over their wariness and reveal their identities.

Since the blondes hadn't introduced themselves as her retainers, Nyx felt the need to mark his territory in response to the unknown male.

Stupid glaive.

"How do you know, Em?" Nyx rolled the name longer than necessary, casually wrapping his arm around the white-haired tease next to him.

Nebula's face stayed dully unimpressed as he gave the two a minor study and then cast his eyes over the booth to down below where two blondes were easy to spot in a sea of dark-haired patrons.

"We're childhood friends, the three of us." He would get a kick out of observing the glaive as a stranger, gauging the intruder's true motives for the princess.

"Childhood friends? You must be a rich kid then, especially with that accent." Nyx pulled Imperatrix right back when she tried to scoot away.

The little effort the princess put into escaping communicated how much she didn't really mind and he grinned.

"How'd you end up in Lestallum?"

The guy's accent was closer to an imperials and even though he wasn't speaking nearly as proper as Imperatrix did, he still sounded sophisticated.

Although, the princess as a guidepost for accents wasn't useful. She sounded way different from the soldiers he'd encountered, vaguely similar to his old comrade, Pelna, if he had to place it.

Lunafreya's accent didn't match up with the guy's either…

Where was he from?

"Being rich kids lets us travel wherever we want. We happened to be in the area." Nebula's blank expression tinted with disappointment that the glaive mistook as discomfort from not knowing him. "You're not her usual type."

"What?" Nyx said with a frown and sat up.

Imperatrix cringed, giving the gunman an unbelieving glower. He shrugged at her displeasure.

"I've known Em to like tall eccentrics of bright eyes and hair. You're the exact opposite." Nebula wanted to add more, but then that would give away the ruse.

Nyx was crude, hot-headed, and stubborn. The very opposite of the chancellor, who was composed and courteous. The similarities began and ended with their interest in Imperatrix.

The whole duration of their monster hunting was spent with the intruder calling the shots, leading the assaults, and being a general pain in the ass. There were so many times he stopped himself from shooting the big shot used to getting his way.

It was like dealing with his sister. Nebula was tired of the disturbances caused by those types of people.

Looks and near-death experiences were the glaives wining points with the princess. There wasn't any other explanations for her attraction to the beast.

"Wait a moment!" Imperatrix protested as she was hauled to her feet by Nyx.

"We're gonna go find Freya." He whisked the princess from the table and the blonde examining him like he was worthless furniture.

Rushing down the stairs as they were, Imperatrix came close to tripping. Fed up with the obnoxious behavior, she pulled, bringing the man to a forced stop. Nyx turned around with a complaint ready, but was outpaced.

"What is wrong with you?! This is not how you treat a lady!" She slapped his hand off her.

"What's wrong with you?! Is it so hard to give a guy a damn chance?!" He exploded in return, glaring heatedly at the woman a step above him.

It didn't make sense why he was so riled up by some dumb comments, but Nyx was.

"A chance to what?! Fuck me?!"

The glaive whipped back at the vulgar exclaim, missing a step and clinging to the railing.

"That's all you want despite me making clear that I expected more!"

Imperatrix stormed past him to the lower level, winding through the flood of people to get to the bar. Furious, the princess ordered a heavier selection and downed them. She continued having the bartender refill the glasses until she felt less like punching someone.

Every time…

Every got damn time she came close to liking Nyx, he screwed with her! Why did she expose herself like that to him?!

She should really despise him, if not for the obvious reasoning of their nationalities, then for his actions.

Laying his hands on all over her without permission. Belittling her like she was an ignorant woman. It all reminded Imperatrix of those disgusting nobles, soldiers, and strangers primarily interested sating their baser needs. Men like those had no respect for her.

Crawling skin and a sinking stomach were all the princess felt at the thought of laying with someone for pleasure and not love.

It didn't matter if she had physical responses to Nyx. She didn't love him…

Why then…when he touched her, she wasn't repulsed, as she was with other men?

"Emmy!"

Imperatrix grunted at what was looking to be a reoccurring incident for the night. Her spilled drink was a loss this time.

"Emmy, you look so frowny!" Tempesta clung painfully tight to the princess. "That's a no-no. Don't go back to that mopey bunk!"

Lunafreya leaned on the bar, blocking a group of males from ogling Imperatrix. She heaved for breath and poked at the braids that had fallen out the bun and hung by the sides of her face.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Freya." The princess asked, gratefully accepting the replacement from the bartender.

"Yes! It is a lot more tiring than a ball." The oracle's ears were blown from the loudness of the music, leaving her oblivious to the shouting she was doing.

"This girl was all over the place! Bumping into everyone and stepping on my feet." Tempesta wouldn't remove herself from Imperatrix's back.

Her cheek rested on the older woman's soft dress. She could see the guys checking them out and winked provocatively at them for the hell of it.

"It's hard to move when everyone is…" Lunafreya struggled to voice her thoughts, hands arranging themselves like she was holding a ball. "Is…is clumped together."

Imperatrix shook her head. Both blondes were drunker than her and she'd been drowning her frustrations in quick succession.

"Look, presents!" The fist fighter reached around to steal the newly arrived beverages.

The maneuver was stopped by the princess and she bore holes into the bartender.

"We didn't order these."

The man pointed to the group she'd ignored since sitting down.

"C'mon, lighten up! It's free!"

One glass disappeared in the blink of an eye, guzzled by Tempesta. Before Lunafreya could follow the leader, Imperatrix grabbed ahold of the employee's uniform.

To the casual onlooker, it might appear as though she was giving the man a flirty message by speaking so closely with him. Her intentions weren't of that nature as a fierce glare was given.

"Did these ever leave your sight?"

"N-No, Ma'm!" He frantically shook his head in the negative, fearful of the strong grip on his collar.

The truthful reassurance got the princess to release the employee and he rushed to take care of another order.

"Nyx will be upset you're flirting with other men!" Lunafreya looked scandalized on behalf of the glaive.

"Freya, you don't need to scream." Imperatrix stated flatly, internally telling herself not to flip out on the girl for bringing up the moron.

"That idiot's got no chance with this one!" Tempesta helped herself to the remaining glass when the princess made no move to take it.

"Really? Why?" Now the oracle was stage-whispering for some reason.

"Cause Emmy's a _romantic_." She fluttered her eyes in exaggeration, completely mocking the older woman. "She likes going on long walks in the moonlight and kissing in the rain."

"Hold on! I haven't done either of those things and don't want to."

The fist fighter covered the princess's mouth with her hand, effectively shutting her up.

"Guys don't like all that wooing crap anymore. It's all about the fun now."

Imperatrix visibly deflated when the group of men that bought the drinks approached the females to chat them up. She was in no mood for it and brushed off the generic conversation.

Tempesta ate up the attention, laying it on thick with compliments and jokes. She somehow pulled Lunafreya into the game of stringing along males. The oracle managed to not embarrass herself too much with her drunken rambles.

The combination of a seductress and an innocent seemed to do it for the males.

When a hand came into contact with Imperatrix's arm, she recoiled and excused herself from the situation.

The abrupt departure worked against her as sense began to blur with the crash arrival of alcohol's murky embrace. All the shots she consumed in a short span of time on top of the bottle shots from before hitting in one slam.

She needed space.

Deaf to the catcalls, the princess merged into the sea of bodies. Trudging through them all proved a grueling task and Imperatrix slowly lost focus.

Why exactly was she mad again?

How could she be upset when everyone else looked so upbeat?

Since reasoning escaped her, Imperatrix tuned into the beat.

Dancing always made her happy. Alcohol added to that amplified the jubilant mood. There wasn't anything to be mad about while moving to good music.

Attuned to the DJ's smooth transition to a pop song, the princess was a flurry of swinging white hair, twirling silver skirts, and moving bronze legs.

How she missed this!

It wasn't court dancing, with all its carefully choreographed movements, but simply moving how the body wanted to move. It was listening to natural instincts and letting go.

She didn't dance like this with her imp.

Nope!

He didn't really like her going to clubs. Much too chaotic and too many men wanting to snatch her away for Ardyn's taste.

The red-head did, however, enjoy watching her dance from a private booth.

There was one club she could get him to accompany her. A higher-end establishment that featured golden cages.

A bird fluttering happily in its beautiful cage amused and beguiled him to no end. He couldn't take his eyes off her when she danced alone.

The man loved his ironies…

"I've been looking all over for you, dammit!"

Imperatrix couldn't tell who'd yelled at her. Before she could turn, the person tugged her off the dance floor.

"What're you doing?! You messed up my flow!" The princess fussed once they stopped in a corridor.

Nyx groaned. "Just great! You're drunk."

She chewed her lip, thinking about it before responding. "Maybe…I mean, I think so…"

He couldn't help snorting at how straightforwardness stayed a feature of hers even when plastered.

"Okay…how? Did you go chug a pitcher or something?" The glaive decided to throw out the angry talking-to he planned on giving Imperatrix in light of her current predicament.

Were she a different woman, he'd flirt and talk, mind in the direction of future pleasures. That was the old him.

The guy in fear of not surviving the next battle and seeking to spend his downtime in Insomnia living it up like an acclaimed hero was supposed to.

After having the princess call him out like she did with that obnoxiously ugly, hurt expression…rubbed him wrong.

Why though?

Nyx was a grown man with nothing to be ashamed of. So how could a pint-sized female make him feel like an asshole on a daily basis?

One minute they could talk and joke without issue and he was reminded of the easy companionship he shared with Crowe. Then the next they argued and fought, sometimes with words and sometimes with fists.

His relationship with Imperatrix was easily the rockiest disaster he'd engaged in, but for some reason he felt compelled to keep trying.

He didn't know how to deal with all this shit…

"Dance with me?" Over her irritation, the princess leaned into Nyx, smiling coquettishly to get her way.

How would dancing with a male partner in this atmosphere feel?

Usually, Tempesta, her sisters, or very rarely, Aranea would indulge Imperatrix.

"Uh, what?" The glaive sucked in a breath at the clear bedroom eyes he was on the receiving end of, and the hands smoothing over his bare chest to push him out the hallway.

"Dance with me." She repeated less as a question and more as a demand.

"I don't know… Maybe we should sit down?"

"No, Nyx!" Imperatrix spun them around so she was backing into the club and the man was following her by the pulling on his shirt. "I told you what I want."

"Oh, damn…" He bent his head back, cursing to the ceiling. "I'm gonna get in trouble… I know it…"

"Nyx…" The princess cooed lowly. "Are you afraid? Can you not dance?"

"Course I can! That's not the problem."

She waved a hand. "Then come on!"

Without further notice, the woman gave a harsh jerk and he stumbled after her.

Only while she was inebriated could Imperatrix get away with steering him by the collar like some dog. It helped that her backside and hips were nice to look at…

Got damn…he was definitively going to get into trouble.

Once on the floor with dozens of other couples, Imperatrix threw her arms over Nyx's shoulders, swaying to the beat. Her eyes closed and she chewed her lip, sinking once more into the excitement.

The glaive gripped the hips he'd been ogling, stumped over pulling her closer to alleviate some of the tension he was stuck with, or leaving her at a distance to prevent precisely that.

Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt, the Imperial Princess of Niflheim. He was out of his freaking mind for having any kind of interest in her.

The woman had been a distant enemy for years. Yet, here he was, annoying cliche and all, thirsting after the enemy chick.

Libertus would talk shit for days if he knew. His mom would beat his ass…

"H-Hey!" Nyx barked after someone bumped into him and Imperatrix slipped from his hold, but he dived for her.

She giggled as she was pulled up from an spontaneous dip, nestling closer to the glaive for the mellow music taking the stage.

"If you wanted to be closer, all you had to do was ask."

The princess curled her arms around the man's neck. The heels put her at a height taller than him, letting the princess bring him close for her to bury her face into his shoulder.

He tensed, nose twitching from the smell of perfume and the tickle of white hair.

Nyx wondered if her hair color was natural or if it whitened. Her eyebrows were the same color, which meant it had to be. The last indication would if she had the same color on…

The glaive shook his head, banishing the dirty thoughts. "Imp—"

"Hush!" She cut him off with a wrench on his hair, smiling coyly at his pained grunt. "That's not my name in here."

Throwing barbs in their usual way didn't come as easily when Imperatrix was being the instigator of seduction. For once, Nyx was genuinely astonished.

Her boast of being able to seduce someone had been laughed off by him. A prim princess like her couldn't possibly possess any tactic other than being coy.

She proved him wrong the first time by flipping him and crushing her foot into his body, driving him mad with a need to run his hands right up her dress again. Woman was on a mission to prove him wrong for a second time now.

What made all this more conflicting was the alcohol making her act out. Or was the alcohol bringing out what she refused to show?

"What's up with you? You're always so handsy and now you don't even want to dance with me!"

"This doesn't feel right!" Nyx forced himself out the embrace and off the floor with a huffing princess in tow.

Out of the flood of people and near the stairway, Imperatrix yelled at the glaive, renewing the previous struggle. He couldn't reason with her to go up to the VIP section and water down the buzz.

Their bickering got the attention of some men.

"Fantastic." Nyx grumbled from the group looking at him as if he was the bad guy for trying to get Imperatrix upstairs.

"Ugh! You're the guys from before." The princess was even less receptive to their inquires of assistance, snarling at the impertinent one that reached for her arm. "What? You get tired of the blondes?! Interested in something exotic now?!"

The male hopped back from her, rejoining his friends. Nyx sputtered at the crassness.

She could talk like a regular person!

"I don't need _help_ from any of you!" Finished dressing down the strangers, the inebriated woman tossed her hair over her shoulder and stomped up the stairs.

"Dude, good luck with that. She's hot, but I wouldn't put up with that attitude."

"Shut up!" The glaive declared to the man sneering at Imperatrix.

They left on that note.

"Nyx!"

At the call, he rushed after the princess, helping her up the stairs. He sighed when they had to stop for her to remove the heels and she shoved them into his hold.

What was up with her always going barefoot?

The pair's arrival completed the gang and the five settled down to finish off the bottle.

Even with more liquid disrupting his thoughts, Nyx was still doubtful of the look-alike blondes and their closeness to Imperatrix. He still hadn't seen any masked weirdos in the club.

They wouldn't have been able to come in with those imperial getups. Which meant they were unmasked, hiding in plain sight.

Were Storm and Cloud actually Tempesta and Nebula?

Things weren't matching up though...

No angry insults or death threats. No killer vibes. Just two annoyingly attractive people with equally annoyingly attractive accents.

He didn't hold those qualities against the female, but the male…

"I gotta ask…are you guys twins? You look exactly alike, but don't look the same in age." The glaive tilted his head to take in the other odd feature of the siblings. "And are those barcode tattoos?"

Imperatrix choked on her drink, a rush of clarity impacting her mind. Nyx managed to touch on two sensitive subjects in barely a minute!

Nebula's face curled from the interrogation, smirk gone from a terrible joke Tempesta told.

He was prevented from answering by the fist fighter launching out her seat to force her way in between the princes and glaive. She clumsily brandished her arm into the man's eyesight.

"This here's a gift from our old man! All his creations get them." The younger Besithia's finger dragged underneath the black lines.

"Oh. It's a family thing. Weird, but I get it."

The odd wording went over his head.

He gestured to the marking on his cheek and under his eye. "We do tribal tattooing in Galahd. For marks of accomplishment and family marks."

"That all you got? Those are practically unnoticeable." Tempesta needled with a suggestive tone. "You look like the type to be covered in ink."

She got a smirk for that. "You're not wrong."

Nyx tugged up the bottom of his shirt, revealing how low his pants hung from the hollow leading to his pelvis being visible. More distracting was the defined tone of his stomach from upping his workouts.

Imperatrix coughed out her fixation on the man's body, listening to the explanation of the eagle tattoo from its owner.

The bird was a symbol of his courage during a dangerous hunt of a pack of Coeurls. The arrowheads beneath his eyes were for the alertness of a warrior. A star on his lower neck for hope and guidance in dark times. Above that, a crescent moon marking him as a protector of the land.

Most important to Nyx was the giant wolf tattoo on his back, representative of strength, endurance, and family values. The mark of the Ulrics since his too-many-greats-grandfather got stranded in a forest and survived from the nurture of a wolf.

"I'm top notch hunter material in Galahd." The glaive bragged, swaying a little into Imperatrix, who was right back to being tipsy.

"Top notch alright. Took on an Iron Giant." The princess nudged him playfully.

"Finally admitting I saved you?"

Imperatrix twisted her face in thought, then pinched her fingers to emulate a small space. "Maybe a little."

"You owe me a kiss then."

"You're never going to get over that, are you?"

"Can you blame me, baby?"

The two were absurdly close, flirty and playful, alcohol's prisoners.

"Gods! Can you two get a room and bang! The rest of us would like to stop gagging on your sexual tension!" Tempesta groused, sprawling over her brother's lap to rub her forehead.

Watching them just hurt and made the haze recede.

Nebula rasped out a chuckle, scratching at his beard. "It's so bad, I'd like to vomit."

"Try dealing with this for months." Lunafreya off-handedly announced while waving around a glow stick she got from the downstairs.

The oracle didn't know why it fascinated her so much, but she loved shaking the thing and watching it get brighter. She probably wasted money by buying so many that she had a necklace out of them, but whatever, it was her money to spend.

"You're a saint, girlie." Tempesta applauded.

"I am." She smiled at the acknowledgement of her profession.

"That's not a good thing to tell Storm." Nebula pawed at the pockets of his sleeveless vest, wanting to reach inside for a smoke.

"Why?"

"Because she'll make it her mission to wreck you." He settled for swirling a straw around in his mouth. "Em was like you and then she got messed up by bad apples."

"She needed me to mess her up." Tempesta defended herself at her brother's pointed look her way. "She was helluva boring without me!"

"Why are you freckle menaces always picking on me?!" Imperatrix flounced against the cushion, swiveling her hips to lean sideways on the armrest with her legs crossed.

The same inappropriate way she sat on her thrones. A small mutiny against convention that started from her doing it as a suggestion from Tempesta to get under a man's skin.

Doing so certainly threw off the people seeking an audience from her and helped turn things in her favor.

"You make it so easy." They managed to say simultaneously and gave each other funny looks.

"Creepy…" Nyx murmured.

"You both said you're friends with Em? Does that mean you know _things_ about her?" Lunafreya articulated her words in a whisper, but everyone could hear her.

"No! Don't get them started!"

"Yes! Tell us juicy stories about this one." Nyx silenced the princess by stuffing a lemon slice into her mouth, and guffawed at the matching sour expression on her face.

The Besithia siblings shared a look, nonverbally communicating. A couple of seconds later, Tempesta burst out her seat to commence a story.

Nyx and Lunafreya found out how much Imperatrix's friends thought she was grossly peculiar when she wasn't in one of her bouts miserable gloom.

To them, the woman's obsession with Moogles and Tonberrys was the height of unnatural, as was her unfortunate habit of monologuing.

"No, for real! This one will stand before a herd of monsters yelling out obnoxious battlecries." Nebula gave Imperatrix such unlimited judgement with his glacial blue eyes that she hid behind her hands to escape them. "The rest of us are stuck thinking, 'Is this really happening?' and stand dumbstruck behind her."

"No way! What does she say?" Nyx chuckled at the scenes he was imaging.

The gunman gestured for his sister to take it from there.

Tempesta assumed a mock-stance of the princess holding her sword in warning. "I accept your challenge! Put before me tens, hundreds, or thousands. I shall defeat them all!"

Imperatrix groaned while Nyx and Lunafreya couldn't contain their joviality.

"She still says things like that, despite how many times we tell her it's embarrassing." Nebula stroked his chin. "People never listen to their friends. Shame, shame."

"There's nothing wrong with it! It's charismatic and motivating!" The princess decreed at having enough of being the butt of jokes. "I have seen plenty of others do it."

"Does she really wanna go there?" The elder Besithia glanced at the younger.

"Emmy is goddam delusional." Tempesta flopped on the couch, too wobbly to remain standing and doing impressions. "You've only seen characters on tv do that shit, you quirky freak!"

"No! Other fighters will shout out taunts and whatnot in battle."

"But not the goo you spout. What are we, in a video game? Who says the shit you say and can keep a straight-face?!"

"Whatever."

Imperatrix disregarded the laughter at her expense, eating the lemons and other fruit available on the table. Since one target was off the radar, Tempesta moved onto a new one, sliding next to the oracle.

"Soooo…did you get some numbers? You were talking to tall-dark-and-handsome for a minute."

Lunafreya went as red as her glow stick. "W-What? I wouldn't!"

"I don't blame you. Nyx here is more of a panty-dropper than them."

The oracle dropped her cup. Luckily, it was empty and her dress was saved from a mess.

The glaive stretched out his arms along the couch, making the unbuttoned shirt open further and show off his chest. Nyx grinned unabashedly.

"He's probably dropped _too_ many for you though. Start with someone with a lower number, Freya."

"What does that mean?"

"It means _stay away_ from his type." Nebula simplified before Tempesta could give more asinine ideas to the religious figure of the group.

"And what's your type, wise guy?" Nyx threw in retaliation.

"Oh, he's as bad as Emmy. Whipped on one." Tempesta waved her hand dismissively.

"Big talk coming from you." The gunman snarked at the snub.

"Shuddup!" All mirth quickly evaporated from the fist fighter, buzz gone.

"Oh, struck a nerve? I knew there was more to it."

"I said shut up! You don't know shit, Reject!"

At that insult, Nebula yanked Tempesta by the hair into his range. Imperatrix screamed as the girl punched her brother in the gut and he shoved her face into the table, restraining her from throwing more hits.

"Stop it! I said stop it! We're done!" The princess announced, separating the two.

A real brawl between the Besithias would cause major damage to the establishment.

"That got ugly." Nyx let Lunafreya out of his protective hold.

"Walk it off, both of you!" Imperatrix commanded, dismissing them with a wave for the exit.

Tempesta didn't need to be told twice, escaping in a raging flurry. Nebula retrieved his case of smokes, popping one in his mouth and leaving to light it.

They'd drowned out and avoided their problems enough for the evening. Terrible moods would follow in the morning with nothing solved.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"My dear, we don't have time for this. You must get up." Ardyn repeated for the second time as Imperatrix nodded off in his arms, slumping into his chest.

"It is…barely morning…" She muttered, face burying into the darkness of the chancellor's coat and blocking out the bright light of the ceiling lights.

Her head was pounding, her stomach was rolling, and her eyes burned.

The princess appeared and felt like rubbish after the debacle of the previous night. She wasn't supposed to get intoxicated in the first place and couldn't remember precisely what triggered her doing so.

Tempesta…

The night was supposed to be for her sake and Imperatrix failed immensely at being supportive. Lunafreya was a better friend to the girl and they weren't even friends.

An apology on her part was mandatory. As soon as she got some more sleep…

"Noooo!" Ardyn groaned, vexed by the limp woman and let her flop onto the bed. "If you were anyone else, my patience would fracture and this would end badly."

The clothing reeking of debauchery was removed by the chancellor. He lifted the princess, carrying her into the bathroom, where Ardyn proceeded to lay her in the tub.

"Oh, you're not going to like this." The red-head smiled mockingly as he turned the nozzle, spraying water over Imperatrix.

"That's cold!" She shrieked, bolting up and knocking into the wall.

Her flailing would've caused her to fall out the shower and crack her head on the floor, but Ardyn bailed her out from that outcome by catching the princess.

"You bastard! Why would you do that?!"

"You're awake now." He shrugged his shoulders flippantly and pushed her back into the range of the water.

"Ardyn, it's cold!" She shivered, covering her nude body and attempting to move closer to the man in warm clothes than the icy water.

"Just making sure I had your attention." Ardyn didn't reprimand her for drenching him when her wet figure was clinging to him. "Here, Dearest."

With the nozzle turned for hot, some of his dangerous edge dwindled as he took in how dismal and small Imperatrix came across next to his larger frame and bulky coat.

"My sincere apologies, Musa, but I am in a bit of a hurry."

"What do you want?" She got off him once the water was hot enough.

The sight of black makeup running down her eyes perturbed Ardyn and he put in some distance between them, leaning on the sink. It wasn't until Imperatrix's back cut off the sight of running darkness that the man refocused on the question asked of him.

"I am in need of your military expertise, Commander Aldercapt." His normal sense of jest returned as the princess looked over her shoulder with a clear face.

"For what? You better not be up to anything ill-advised."

A wicked smirk edged out the more she exposed herself.

"Ardyn…focus. Why did you wake me?"

"Pardon me. Attraction does terrible things to a man." He sighed mournfully at not being able to soothe his needs for a certain individual with water and soap coating them.

He did want to make up for their last play…

Damned curse sabotaging him.

"I said…what do you want?" Imperatrix urged once out the shower.

Her level of crankiness was rising.

"First, I need you to get royally dressed." Ardyn grabbed the hanging towel, hiding the distractions from eyesight. "And I need you to do it fast."

He flicked her on the nose and sauntered out. She wrinkled her nose, drying herself with more force than needed.

Why did she put up with his trollish deeds?

Imperatrix brushed her hair and tied it into an updo, lamenting how straightening out the wavy tresses had gone to waste so fast. No other beauty processes would be needed for a military matter, and for once, she was thankful of the rigid dress-code.

Done, she stepped into the room. Ardyn lounged on the couch, phone in hand and texting someone. Without looking up, he pointed to the bed.

Her military uniform and weapons were laid out.

"I can't believe you've damaged the coat this fast. I had it made with the sturdiest materials."

The princess sniffed defensively as she strapped the thigh-holster for the saber on her leg. "Blame Titan. His constructs nearly seared off my arm."

One sleeve of the overcoat was beyond saving, leading the tailor to cut off the other for a sense of unity. Her long gloves were served to protect her arm now.

At least the coat was now more suitable for the humid weather. She should be used to sweltering heat after living in Persia, but the cold became her norm.

"Ready to go?" Ardyn got up, reaching the door before Imperatrix and opened it.

"After I wake the others."

"No, that won't do." He gripped the cape being used as a shawl to blanket the owner and tugged her in the opposite direction. "We've no more time to waste."

"W-Where are we going?!" The princess scrambled to turn around from the awkward undertaking of walking backwards. "I cannot leave without a word."

"To Aracheole Stronghold." He supplied once she was walking beside him. "And I already sent messages to your attendants."

"Has something happened to the base? I do not recall any settlements there." Imperatrix pulled the cape further over head at the rising sun blinding her.

Perhaps she could get away with sleeping in the car…

Scarcely four hours of sleep wasn't going to cut it after the night she had.

"Did you hear me, Impera?" Ardyn knocked his knuckles against the forehead of the zombie staring off in the distance.

"What were we talking about?" The princess blinked sedately, tilting slightly.

"Oh, goodness. This is not what I want to deal with, not today." The chancellor guided her into the passenger side, shutting the door with a sigh. "Such role reversals…"

Imperatrix lurched off the window at the roar of an engine and the wobbly feel of wheels moving along pavement.

"Oh, oh, I cannot…" She whined, balling up into a fetal position at her stomach clenching in nausea.

"Impera, I swear…if you empty your stomach in my car, we will be done." Ardyn warned, focus shifting between the road and the princess. "From lovers to strangers."

"That is the deal-breaker?! You love this car more than me?"

He hummed like it was a difficult choice.

"Insufferable imp! You will find yourself second to another."

That comment got the red-head's full attention. He frowned sulkily at the threat.

"Keep you eyes on the road." Imperatrix reminded, head falling onto the chancellor's lap to rest.

"Nyx couldn't possibly be in your good graces. You went to bed alone, even though I'm assuming you looked marvelous." Ardyn chuckled. "I'm jealous I didn't get to see the debut of that outfit, only the result."

"My head hurts too much to speak of Nyx. Tell me the reason for this kidnapping." She squirmed after a bump in the road caused her to go up and then down, sickness choked down forcefully. "It must be unpleasant if you keep avoiding the question."

"Very astute, my dear." He cooed snidely, petting the princess on the head. "You see…a trap has been set at the stronghold."

Imperatrix craned her neck upward, gauging how serious he was. Amber eyes twinkled dangerously with mischief.

"You'll recall I mentioned the prince's car was lost to him?"

"The…Regalia, you called it?"

"Yes. The prize was confiscated by the military and transferred to Aracheole." Ardyn's hand stroked downward from Imperatrix's arm to her hips in a cycle as he drove one-handed. "Can you guess the next part of the tale?"

"The location of the Regalia was leaked to the prince." She laid her head back down. "He will attack the base to recover it."

"Bravo! Right on point."

"You wish me to speak with the brigadier general in charge? Convince him not to kill Noctis?"

"That is half-right."

Imperatrix waited for Ardyn to elaborate, blinking rapidly in effort to stay awake.

"It's not the brigadier general you shall have to convince, but the high commander. Otherwise, I'd have paid the man off and the Regalia put somewhere less hostile."

"The high commander? Who is that?" A yawn escaped out.

"You were doing so well…" The chancellor heckled. "My dearest, hungover, little Musa...have you forgotten? The high commander is Ravus. He is the one I need you to persuade off carnage."

"Ravus? Oh…he was promoted, yes?" A bigger yawn and the princess couldn't keep her eyes open. "He…hates Noctis…"

"Indeed. Which makes him very likely to kill the boy if we don't stop him."

"Why does everyone expect me to do the impossible?"

"You are royalty. You carry burdens no one else will ever truly understand."

The soft breathing on his leg alerted Ardyn to Imperatrix's loss of consciousness. He continued petting her tenderly, humming a soft tune to keep her deeply drawn into sweet dreams.

What was he going to do with her?

Plans that he'd tirelessly calculated for years were beginning to go awry. Small though it may be, his concessions for Imperatrix were chinks that could cause massive cracks.

Goodness…

She was a blessing and a curse.

Why? Why now of all times did she appear in his life?

Right at the endgame, when things were in motion and the course couldn't be changed. All the years of torment, loss, and darkness were coming to an end…

"Oh, Dearest Musa… You shall hate me once more…" Ardyn couldn't sing anymore, the old notes of a previous life striking the ire of those within him.

Could he bear to cause her such suffering with his vendetta?

The pondering would have to wait as the stronghold came into sight. The chancellor stopped the car.

"Impera, my dear, it is time to awaken." With the earlier thoughts weighing on his mind, Ardyn leaned lower to rain kisses on the sleeping princess.

She groaned, unwilling to leave the comforts of surreal fantasies. "Let me rest…a little more…"

"Would, but I could. Will a kiss of true love rouse you, dear princess?"

Imperatrix hummed lightly.

Knowing that once they were inside the base he'd have to limit his conduct with her, the chancellor angled the woman's face to gently capture her lips. She eventually returned the affection with comparable consideration, and as more awareness sunk in, her lips moved to seize more.

He sharply inhaled the fading smell of peppermint products favored by the princess. Chaste intentions became spirited the moment a tongue swiped across his lips.

From there on the kissing dialed up from sweet to impassioned.

In the midst of Imperatrix sitting up to press closer against him. Ardyn detached from the session, panting into the crest of her head. He tightly gripped her chin with his thumb locked over her mouth when the princess decided to steal a last kiss.

"As much as it pains me to say…we must stop." The red-head soundlessly snickered at the fogged windows incriminating them. "We're not that far from the base that a pair of binoculars couldn't spy us."

She stilled, lips frozen on the chancellor's neck. Imperatrix bit him after remembering where they were and how they got there.

"Oh! I tell you stop and you do differently. So naughty for a princess!"

The woman hopped off him to wipe at her lips, feeling marginally better from the extra respite.

"This is already becoming obvious." Ardyn pulled at his shirt, examining the hickey on his neck through the mirror. "Everyone's going to ask who the lucky woman is."

In spite of the grievance, the imp looked rather smug about it.

"Consider it repayment for the dozens of marks you left on me." Imperatrix glared darkly. "Lunafreya literally asked me if I'd been stung by bees when she caught sight of them."

He laughed. "Would you like to give me a few more? Even the score?"

"Oh, no. Were we not in a hurry?"

"Yes, but a few more minutes of your lips on mine, or anywhere else you'd like...isn't going to cost us."

"It certainly will if we have to wait for you to calm down. Or are you propositioning me in your car?"

Ardyn didn't answer for a beat, tapping his finger on the wheel as he blatantly observed her with longing. "Not in my car..."

"What is with you and this thing?"

"I've had Vixen for a long time. Her sentimental value is high."

The princess didn't understand having that kind of attachment to a vehicle, but she didn't joke further about it. She kissed him on the cheek and then scooted to the opposite side.

"We still have to wait for you."

"Ah, very true. Can't appear in front of the masses like this." Ardyn leaned back in the seat, contemplating boring topics to smother his visible arousal.

"How exactly did Ravus become the high commander? Why even use that title? It sounds like the position is temporary." Imperatrix unfurled her cape, clipping it into place on her shoulders. "Should he not be the general?"

"Perfect moodkiller, my dear." The chancellor drawled tonelessly.

"I am serious, Ardyn. His promotion is unusual and I can imagine the rift it has caused among the other senior commanders, who have been enlisted most their lives."

"To be fair…both Ravus and yourself have been in military for half your lives. It's not that absurd to have youngsters in charge." He shifted the gear, stepping on the pedal to head for the stronghold. "Glauca wasn't much older than the two of you."

The princess's head swirled around, eyes wide. "Did you know the man under the armor?!"

"One question at a time! Weren't you just curious about Ravus?" Ardyn placed a hand over his his forehead. "My, oh my! Do your attentions fluctuate! How do I keep up?"

Her head hitting the glass window earned Imperatrix a pinch at the hip. She squealed, jumping off the door and rubbing the abused area.

"No damaging Vixen."

She cursed in another language.

Pretending he didn't hear her, Ardyn casually dropped a bomb on the other occupant. "Ravus's promotion stems from his successful siege of the Crown City of Lucis."

"N-No…not possible…"

"You were in exile when he promoted the plan."

The princess's head spun.

The peace treaty couldn't have been Ravus's idea, too diplomatic for someone more prone to aggressive options. She could envision the cowardly senators coming up with that ruse. Sacking the city from within, however, wasn't something unusual to hear from a commander.

The elder Fleuret had the tactical mind to engineer it and the motive to see it through. He hated Regis more than anyone else in Eos…

She'd heard the man curse the king to hellfire whenever someone brought up anything Lucis related.

Great.

One more thing for her to agonize over. One more thing she had to debate telling Lunafreya.

"Alright, Dearest Musa. Time for you to perform. Enchant High Commander Fleuret into sparing Prince Noctis." Ardyn said teasingly, though his words carried weight.

Imperatrix sighed pitifully, allowing herself a last bout of despair as the chancellor exited the car to stroll over to her side to open the door.

She could do this. She would do this.

A promise of peace had to be kept. It was owed to King Regis and every other unfortunate soul they'd doomed in Insomnia.

Please let that city be the last sacrifice towards something better…

"Princess Imperatrix." Ardyn called, hand stretched to help her out.

He held on afterwards, escorting her through the line of saluting soldiers.

One step, then two. She could walk this path.


	16. Chapter 16

The chapter some of you have been waiting for, a sleepy prince and his retinue finally makes their appearance!

I haven't heard from anyone on FF in a while, whereas AO3 is where everyone loves quizzing me on mechanics of the story. Has everybody just moved to reading it on there? Or have you all just lost interest? The difference in reader response between the sites is a little jarring and I've noticed it doesn't really have anything to with the mature content because only one or two have commented on it. Anyway, please feel free to leave feedback. I don't respond to reviews in the chapters like other authors, but I do private message the user to show my appreciation. And of course, I'm grateful to the guest reviews too, even though I can't respond to them.

 **Latin**

 **Igne natura renovatur integra** \- Through fire, nature is reborn whole.

 **Astra inclinant, sed non obligant** \- The stars incline us, they do not bind us.

 **Faber est suae quisque fortunae** \- Every man is the artisan of his own fortune.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Why do you have to do that? It drives me insane!" Ardyn objected with a dark glower at the pacing princess.

Watching her go in circles made him dizzy and the loud clicks from every footstep of hers grated on his ears. The second complaint was a shame since he loved heels on Imperatrix, but when mixed with routine worry it wrecked the illusion of a beautiful woman strutting about in her element.

Oh...he'd had many a fantasy of her strutting in heels in a lovely, fluttering dress, lodging a sword into the ground with her hands resting on the handle and imperiously looking like a ruler. His queen...

How she'd become so fierce and beautiful over the years. A little more pushing and the princess would become that glorious fantasy.

Imperatrix paused, giving him an equally withering look. "I am nervous, alright?"

The two were waiting in the command room for Ravus. They'd already dismissed the other soldiers attending them. With the room to themselves, the princess was more inclined to roam around, surveying the charts, boards, and notes distributed about from the brigadier general's meetings.

"Be nervous, but be still." Ardyn waved his hand towards the chair next to him, tilting his head in a pleading expression. "I really cannot take a minute more of this."

Relenting, the princess took a seat. She checked her phone for notifications to occupy herself. Neither Tempesta or Nebula had bombarded her phone with messages. Whatever the chancellor told them must've satisfied their worry. Or they were too drained from the night before to care, taking a free day to cool off.

Her retainers were more loyal than she probably deserved, but they could be uninterested in the princess's struggles on occasion. They'd given her no assistance against the tonberry, which was fine since Imperatrix was more than happy to tangle with it, but dutiful attendants would've supported their liege.

Not toss jokes for her fascination.

"Much quieter…" He exhaled, theatrically sinking in his chair.

Now if only the thousands of other sounds would cease. A minute more of listening to clicking along with the racket in his head would've pushed him to go on a rampage.

The prince couldn't be far judging by how obnoxious the burdensome leeches were behaving. Ardyn was seconds away from bashing his head in or tearing off his ears just for some peace of mind.

Quiet…sweet silence.

All he wanted was silence for one damn moment!

"I did not mean to bother you. I apologize." Imperatrix said after noticing the pained grimace cross the chancellor's face and him clenching the arm of the chair.

Ardyn released the armrest from his grip, transferring the hand to the contrite woman's knee, squeezing gently once all traces of irritation were gone from his face. "A sudden headache is the cause of my shortness, not you, my dear."

She nodded in understanding. Her own head was still working at half-capacity from the hangover.

It became eerily hushed then, an occurrence that while welcome, perturbed Imperatrix. When the red-head didn't make any moves toward furthering conversation, merely clenching his eyes closed with a sigh and hitting his head against the chair, she clutched the hand still on her knee.

Talking was a constant with the chancellor. He typically went on and on regardless of whether others cared to listen or respond. A habit that made those unaccustomed to him assert that the man was self-absorbed, fond of his own grandiloquent voice, but she understood that Ardyn talked so much because he enjoyed the connection with people, even if he was cementing a negative one.

He was someone abating loneliness with childish grabs for attention through conversations and pranks. Yet, when given that consideration he drew back, keeping the person at the surface of the facade, afraid to let go of the malicious trickster everyone saw him as and let them see him for what he was. A lonely man carrying immense pain and self-loathing from tragedies, when in fact, he had the greatest capacity for kindness and sacrifice. Equal measures of light and darkness, but he chose to present one aspect to the world.

Why? Why did Ardyn cling to that persona?

He didn't need to hide from her.

But who was she to talk?

A subdued, obedient princess was the guise Imperatrix wore when next to the emperor in councils, speaking up only when necessary or asked to and with no glimpse into how disgusted she could be with the power-seeking men around her. They had the right aspirations, but the methods corrupted the pure ideals.

Sad how good intentions were ruined...

If not the mask of a princess, then Imperatrix was the stern, unbeatable, commander that her soldiers could look to for inspiration. She wasn't nearly as grueling of a teacher as Glauca had been, but those under her employ did grumble that she could be unrelenting in training. A consequence of her life being a constant trial of worthiness that fueled her ambition to be the best. She expected no less from her soldiers.

The two aspects of her life that dominated and drowned her…

She wanted some of the old her back. The woman that smiled and lived, breathing in life as the gift it was, not the burden it'd become.

To be happy again...

"You really must calm down. If I didn't believe you could do this, I wouldn't have bothered you, Impera." Ardyn uttered, wriggling his hand that she was close to breaking with her grip.

She released his hand.

"Now, now. Don't be so obvious." He reminded, glancing up to the camera when she was about to reach over for him. "Keep your hands to yourself, pretty little minx."

Imperatrix coughed, scooting the chair closer to the table and sitting properly with her legs crossed and hands clasped in her lap. "Do not speak to me like that then."

The chancellor chuckled. "Now you are trying too hard."

He slunk his hand under the table, stealing her hand back to twine their fingers. What they couldn't see on those cameras he could get away with.

"Where does this faith come from? You are under the impression I can do anything." Imperatrix traced shapes over the glove with her free hand.

A simple touch could soothe a person. The prevailing sense of dread and urgency dimmed within her.

She'd faced much worse than a grudge-bearing man in charge of the entire imperial land force in the last months. There wasn't any reason for her to be nervous, but the probability of failure always did that to a person.

"I thought you were _unbreakable_? Doesn't that imply accomplishment?"

A tiny smile cut across the somberness of the princess. The door opening to admit the high commander made the two secret lovers relinquish their hold, snapping into their roles.

"Her Imperial Highness and the Lord Chancellor. To what do I owe this unexpected arrival?" Ravus announced himself, striding across the room to the table.

Imperatrix was so shocked by the new appearance of the elder Fleuret that she stood mute and frozen before him.

Gone was the fair hair he shared with Lunafreya, rendered a startling white that could make him pass as an Aldercapt alongside her and Euphemia. His eyes were no longer a matching pair of blue, but a heterochromatic mix of blue and violet. Weight had been lost for his cheeks were far more hollow and there was a gauntness to him that wasn't present before.

The most significant change was the mechanical limb attachment where she last saw a charred stump. A purple and silver display of the latest magitek equipment was now the high commander's arm.

"Can you…truly be Ravus?" Imperatrix questioned, hesitantly squeezing the man's mortal arm.

"Are you daft? Who else would I be?" He snipped, jerking away from the breach in personal space.

"Ah, well…that response certainly aligns with the man I know." Convinced, the princess crossed her arms to prevent anymore contact and hid how stung she was by his rejection.

She knew how much Ravus disliked physical contact, especially with others present, but they hadn't seen one another since Insomnia. He could've swallowed his pride to accept a familiar greeting from her.

They were friends, and at the very least in-laws, not strangers to stand on stiff ceremony. Geez...

"What games are you playing now, Chancellor Izunia? Why have you brought Imperatrix here?" The high commander turned his vexation on the innocently grinning red-head.

"Game? Me?!" He laid a hand on his chest in disbelief, an elaborate show of mockery.

"You know who is coming to this base and how dangerous this place will become." The now bleached-blonde's expression darkened more. "So I ask again, what game is this?!"

Ardyn chuckled, fingers tapping on the table as he circled around to his seat. "Unfortunately, I don't agree with your plan. The emperor hasn't explicitly called for Prince Noctis's death. Your actions here are hasty."

At Ravus's scoff, Imperatrix gestured for him to join them at the table instead of standing. He curtly placed himself at the head spot after the princess seated herself next to the the red-headed devil.

"You are the chancellor, you have no say in military matters." The high commander argued impatiently.

"That's probably for the best because I'd make a mess of it. Still doesn't stop me from intervening though." He sighed exaggeratedly. "My lord, you're going out of your way to prove that rank wasn't handed out of favoritism from the emperor."

"I was handed nothing! I earned my power."

Titles were murky, complicated, clouds hanging over people's heads.

Ravus worked hard to get where he was, High Commander of the Imperial Landforce. He spent years listening to the jeers of the people who attacked his home while he enlisted in the army, rather than stay home as a weak figure-head. Evey day was miserable and stoked his temper, resulting in numerous reprimands and setbacks when he beat the shit out of the offenders.

He wouldn't have even been a powerful figure-head with the title of prince stripped from him and reduced to a mere lord by courtesy. On top of that, males weren't valued the same in Tenebrae as they were in other countries.

If he stayed…his life would've been a shadow to his sister's blinding radiance.

No.

Instead he chose to be ridiculed by everyone, his own people and sister included, all for the chance of being in control. They disowned him for climbing the ranks of the imperials. They all were blind to his true motives.

Caught in two worlds and finding acceptance in neither…

None of them understood. Nobody would ever understand him. Everything he did was for his country and house. Now that Ravus had more authority than Imperatrix, he would put an end to things.

"Before we go any further, I wish to know one thing." The princess started up the discussion after a period of watching the elder Fleuret glare intensely at Ardyn, who smiled indifferently and texted on his phone. "Why do you wish to kill Noctis?"

"Need I answer the most banal question?"

She twitched at the continuing disrespectful tantrum unreasonably aimed at her. A restraining hand on her thigh cooled a possible flare of irritation. The princess sloped in her posture, the toe of her boot clicking gently against Ardyn's to show she'd reigned herself in.

"My father has given no express order to kill the prince. As it stands, if subjugated, he is to be taken into custody. No different from any other royal of a conquest." Imperatrix stated less warmly since Ravus was in the mood for snubbing. "Do not confuse _your desires_ for that of the emperor's."

"And you know them? _You_ , who was exiled for speaking out? For rejecting the emperor's ambitions?" The high commander curled his lip, mechanical arm glinting in the light as he leaned forward on the table. " _It is I_ who can say 'do not impose your wishes on higher powers'."

His words cut deeply, tearing at the princess's resolve.

A call on the intercom halted more potshots between an Aldercapt and a Fleuret. Ravus stood to leave.

"You are a commander, I shall allow you to review the operation and join, should you choose." He retrieved a folder from the stack of files on the cabinet and tossed it onto the table. "Or feel free to stay here, out of my way."

Imperatrix barely acknowledged him depart without her say so.

Why bother mentioning how rude and dismissive the elder Fleuret had been towards her? It wasn't anything she didn't deal with from others. What bothered her most was the cold strike that she was nothing to her father, not dear or treasured, but a cog in the machine.

Had his voicemail been a lie? He still hadn't spoken to her, nor had she drawn the courage to speak to him. She wanted to talk to him, wanted to go home...

Pathetic.

"That went terribly!" Ardyn quipped and frowned when the princess didn't respond with exasperation or annoyance. "My dear, it's not the end of the world. You've still got time to convince him. I would've been shocked if you managed it on the first attempt."

"Where did I go wrong?" She uttered without thought.

"With Ravus? I think the hangover is affecting your charisma. You're a little cranky too. Don't get worked up up over every bit of goading."

"With my father?!" Imperatrix blurted out from him not understanding.

Thrown, the imp stared and his response didn't come fast enough. She ducked her head into the cover of her arms, hidden from the world. Apparently, the princess was never too old or too mature to have meltdown.

He concluded the playfulness in recognition of this being a vulnerable spell. The chancellor left her for a moment to order one of the soldiers outside to retrieve refreshments and the other to allow no entry. Then Ardyn returned to the distraught woman, sitting as close as he could without it appearing improper.

Holding and comforting Imperatrix wasn't possible like the last circumstance. The cameras were functioning and the base was fully manned. Much as he wanted, the red-head couldn't touch her, only speak sweetly.

Secretive courtship at its best.

"My Musa, are you crying?"

She shrugged, to which he hummed mournfully.

"If I tell you a secret, will you perk up?" The chancellor suggested something he knew would interest the listener. "I do dislike seeing you upset."

At the offer, Imperatrix lifted her head to look at him, revealing that she hadn't been crying, but looking no less downtrodden. Slowly, an encouraging grin of his got her to fully look up.

"Go ahead."

"Do you recall the notebook you gave me for my birthday?" He chortled at how the Aldercapts got him into celebrating something so trifling and easily forgettable in his condition.

Oh, birthdays.

The addition of each candle on a cake presented to him by the royal princesses outwardly earned his amusement, but internally he raged over the reminders, wanting to stab the candles into certain celestial beings for them screwing him over. However, that would be a waste of a perfectly good cake and he'd come to adore pastries.

Those egotistical liars wouldn't ruin chocolate cake for him. No, no, no.

The funniest parts of those birthdays were when he went into the palace chapel and lit a few effigies on fire in honor of the Astrals. He almost wished a bolt of lightning would strike him down, a sword impale him, ice freeze him, the earth swallow him, or the water drown him. Death by fire wasn't bound to happen, not with the contract. Any kind of response from them would've been hilarious.

He'd become decidedly macabre in his old age, imaging bloody deaths on the day of his birth. Boredom did strange things to a person.

"The black hardback with your initials on the front and filled with pages I have never seen." Imperatrix found it humorous that his initials spelled out love in the language of Yasu.

His birth in September that categorized him as a Virgo also cracked the princess up.

There was hardly anything pure and innocent about the man. Ardyn's appetite put hers to shame and challenged it. Furia's conjectures about him might not have been complete lunacy. He spoke so suggestively and openly about adding Nyx to her collection...

"Most the pages are filled with my ramblings, but some…" The chancellor paused for dramatic effect, eyes glinting at the princess breathing deeply in the way she did when indecent thoughts were stirring up her mind. "Some of the those pages feature life drawings…of you."

Not where he was originally going, but seeing as her mind was already on track for this, he could keep personal cards in holding for a rainy day.

"You have sketched me? Why would that be a secret?" The interest faded from her countenance.

Ardyn randomly drawing her was nothing new. He did that often when she lived in the palace and the imp was playing hooky from work. The man didn't even try to hide the behavior from her or the servants, boldly interrupting her relaxations in the gardens to sketch the princess among nature.

"These aren't the regular portraits." The red-head lowered his voice, honeyed words striking a note in Imperatrix. "These were done in the afterglow of love."

Her breath hitched as comprehension sunk in, frantically whispering. "Y-You have n-nude pictures of me?!"

He made a noise of agreement, waving around the mentioned notebook. "The most classical art! Exultation of the human physique."

"I should be angry with this, but your archaic method makes me laugh." The princess giggled.

A regular man would've used his phone to take a picture. Her unorthodox paramour chose to commit the memory to paper.

"Let me see." She demanded, reaching for the flying book.

"Should I? Should I not?" Ardyn swatted her hand with the book and then covered the bottom half of his face with it, closing his eyes in thought.

"Why would you even do that?"

"I was inspired to follow an old friend's habit of immortalizing his lovers. He was a much better artist than I…" He opened his eyes, the heat in them tickling Imperatrix's insides. "I think I should deny you...just the thought of these portraits is provoking me. The intelligence officers are sure to have a field day if I display them."

"That's right…" She peeked at the camera above.

In her distraction, Ardyn pocketed the treasure. He'd let her see on another occasion and find merriment in her bewitching blush.

"Always teasing me…" Imperatrix grumbled, puffing air out her nose as she found something else to browse through, namely the folder left behind by Ravus. "You could have told me something deeper. I could tell you were going to…"

Ardyn studied her, drawn by how the white-haired woman didn't concern herself with hiding her feelings from the right people. She possessed a sense of honesty in her emotions that most didn't, especially for a woman of Nephilim lineage. Imperial women could be some of the most deceitful masterminds at court.

"Your concerns about your father can be discussed when we aren't likely to be interrupted. Our personal conversations should stay between us."

"Do you mean that…"

A knock on the door with the announcement of a soldier confirmed the chancellor's statement and he called for them to enter. The man deposited two cups of coffee, bowed, and returned to his post.

"Tell me, what's the high commander's plan of attack?" Ardyn inquired, idly drinking the beverage.

"Cornering Prince Noctis once he infiltrates the base. He will be boxed in by the soldiers inside and if he manages to escape, the arriving legion will attack." Imperatrix flipped through the pages. "A considerable force to subdue four men, even if they have magic."

"Don't underestimate them, my dear. They did put down the Archaean."

"You still owe me an explanation for his involvement in Operation Godslayer."

He coughed, choking on liquid as he laughed and patted her on the hand. "T-That's what you're calling it? You're so precious."

"Tempesta suggested it! It is a fine, explanatory name!" Imperatrix drank her coffee in effort to ignore the man smiling tolerantly as she reddened the more he sniggered.

Too quickly, the liquid was spat into the cup, not from the bitter brand typical of military bases that took years to get used to, but from the scalding heat capable of burning off taste buds. The princess mewled in pain, rolling her tongue around and scowling at the person still obtaining mirth from her actions.

"How are you drinking that when it's piping hot?!" She'd incorrectly assumed the beverage was fine at seeing Ardyn consume it without issue.

Big mistake!

"Oh…it is, isn't it?" His eyebrows rose as he quieted and peered into the dark depths of coffee.

He'd hardly paid attention to the pain.

"My apologies, Dearest Musa. I forgot to warn you."

"It is like you do not register pain!" Imperatrix groused, setting the offending cup down.

"Not really. I'm numb to it on most days..." There was a note of tension to his words, but Ardyn moved on before it could be commented on. "In your opinion, when do you think Noctis will be here, Commander Aldercapt?"

Her response was delayed, dismayed by the nonchalance to which he treated himself. "At…night. We outnumber him, therefore a sneak attack is in his best interest, which Ravus has predicted."

"Then you have until then to complete your task. Best you approach the high commander without me." The chancellor stood. "I don't get along with children of the light."

"Where are you going?" She almost grabbed ahold of his hand to stop him from leaving.

That air of rancor controlling him bothered her to no end. What did she need to do in order to rid him of it?

"I'd love to follow you around, we get so little time together. But alas, touring princesses, prodigious engineers, and secretaries require my attention." Ardyn winked, texting rapidly on his phone.

That explained why the motormouth had been preoccupied with the device since he disturbed her in the twilight hours of the day.

"Fine, you troll. Leave me with the decidedly harder assignment."

"I know you won't disappoint. That's why I count on you without reserve." He doffed his hat in a respectful bow and in the rise she wanted to chuck something at him for the insolent enjoyment he got out of messing with her.

She still smiled anyway as he departed in a flutter of his billowing coat, nearly hopping to a tune of his own making.

Why did Ardyn have such faith in her? He was possibly…the only person in her life who never doubted in her abilities. If Imperatrix proclaimed she'd reach the sky, he'd laugh a bit, but believed her outrageous statements, encouraging to the end.

It was a little daunting and largely comforting to have someone so ready to tell her to be true and mean it.

Be true…

Humans could be such hypocrites, and yet, beautiful things were never perfect.

"Ravus?" The princess called.

He dismissed his lieutenant commander, replying placidly. "Imperatrix."

She stepped beside him, overlooking the courtyard below.

The soldiers were in the middle of drills. Magitek armors were setting up barricades and moving cargo. In the background of all this activity was a large generator giving off mists of red energy.

"What is that?"

"An improvement on the lighthouse mechanism. It creates a barrier to keep out the daemons. Proficient, smaller, and less costly than three or four actual towers." The platinum-blonde moved closer to the railing, shouting a reprimand aimed at a group sparing in faulty forms. "I do not need more nuisances to deal with."

"I read your plan. It is efficient." She held out the folder.

"And will you be participating?"

"What do you expect of me? Clearly, Prince Noctis is reserved for you."

"He does not travel alone. You could incapacitate the bodyguards." The high commander faced her, mechanical limb retrieving the papers.

Looking at Ravus without surprise for the new changes would take a spell and he angled his body so only the human side was visible. Imperatrix chastised herself for making the man uncomfortable enough to draw away from her.

Subconscious of his differences, the high commander had been on edge all day, glaring at anybody gaping too long at his arm. The idiots were acting like they'd never seen a prosthetic limb before, when plenty of people had them, civilians and soldiers alike.

The princess and chancellor dropping in on him definitively didn't improve his mood, plunging it into turbulent denouncing of everyone and everything in his sight.

"If you wanted to take on the prince in single combat, you should not have arranged this grand force." The princess moved to the other side of the ramp, spotting the prized car being transported to another section. "Four against hundreds? Even with magic, the odds are against them. My assistance is unnecessary."

"Have you forgotten what Lucian magic is capable of? Resurrecting the dead. Raising barriers to cover continents. Decimating armies with the elements." The high commander's metal hand malformed the railing, causing an ugly screech over the noise of training. "All of this is not nearly enough to overcome the Chosen King."

Where had she heard that title from?

"Perhaps I am underestimating him. I did see what he did to the Norduscaen Base." Imperatrix felt a bit of relief when the drills ended, and with it, the disturbances adding to her headache.

The coffee cleared her mind to a degree, but she still was in the mindset of wanting the day to be over as quickly as possible.

"I am also biased from the bits Lunafreya shared about the prince. He is the picture of gentility in her eyes. My mind cannot reconcile that with the reports of a mindless berserker destroying everything in his path." She chose not to add how Regis's great sacrifice of his life and city for his son weighed in on her opinion.

For a father to give so much, the son had to be a special boy.

"Ugh, Luna…always singing praises of that wretch!" The elder Fleuret spat. "Stupid girl! That boy will be her death."

"I know it seems like the end of the world when our younger siblings have a crush, but it truly is not." Imperatrix spun to gaze at Ravus's taunt back. "My friend, are you not exaggerating?"

"You know nothing. Otherwise you would not trivialize."

"Then explain it to me. I grow weary of all these plots and standing fool at the reveal!"

He snorted bitterly. "How strange. You are full of ironies today."

Ravus could never forget the horror of seeing airships descend on Fenestala Manor. The behemoth that cracked the ground from the weight of his armor and tore through flesh with the swing of his blade. No one could oppose that monster.

The closet to revenge he could get on Glauca now was claiming his position in the army. The bastard went and died in Insomnia. With so much mystery surrounding the creature, the elder Fleuret took what was left of his enemy's legacy.

Had the Ring of the Lucii not rejected him and burnt off his arm, Ravus would've turned its power on his mother's killer. In one fell swoop, revenge and ascension, poetic justice for the wrongs this life heaped on him.

A tragic accident, a casualty. The same words applied to the late Queen of Tenebrae should've been applied to General Glauca.

Blasted Lucians ruining everything, again and again!

They should've never came to Tenebrae and his mother should've never allowed them into their land. Bull-headed just like her daughter, Sylva heard only her own will and not those of the people counseling caution.

She'd been forewarned to deny the Lucians entry into Niflheim. The emperor at the time was still enraged over the death of his wife and crippling of his daughter, having no sympathy for Regis's distress over Noctis's Starscourge infected wounds. He didn't want his greatest enemy so close and neither did he want Tenebrae blatantly allying with them.

Queen Sylva found the whole feuding between the monarchs distasteful. A man lost his wife and almost lost his daughter, inflicting the same loss on the offender, leaving two men with disabled children. Thinking she could repair the broken relations by healing the sick child and then bringing the monarchs together, his mother snuck the Lucians into Fenestala Manor.

They all paid dearly for her hubris. If only he could go back in time and tell her not to do it...

A part of him held so much anger towards his mother for her mistake and for her dying, leaving him with mountains of responsibilities long before he was ready.

"I have a debriefing to attend, join me and I shall enlighten you of certain events. Then you will change your mind about the prince." Ravus indifferently took in the misshapen metal, flexing his mechanical fingers.

Not the power he'd set out for, but power nonetheless.

With his own two hands he was damned sure going to change everything.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Has Luna behaved oddly?" The high commander closed his eyes, sinking into the office chair.

After sitting through two hours of debriefing with the brigadier general, the first lieutenant, his lieutenant commander, and the princess, Ravus was wiped. A very late lunch and three shots of coffee gave the man energy to contend with the temptation of nodding off.

The big downfall of his promotion was the increased workload. Managing one legion as a commander was pitifully easy compared to managing twelve. Not to mention the many bases he now had to monitor. Being the admiral of the airforce would've been an easier job, then he'd only have to deal with the commodores. Too bad the branches were completely different and transfers were rare.

He didn't think he could miss doing paperwork while on recovery so much, even when it proved difficult due to missing an arm. Furia had to help him with most of it and was hardly any help with her distracting flirtations. He'd take those tedious routines over listening to prickly fossils any day.

"I take it you are referring to the blackouts, the obsessive musical episodes, and the frequent comas?" Imperatrix didn't mince words, worried for the girl in question and wanting to get straight to the point.

"Yes." The high commander growled. "The repercussions of our lineage. Particularly in the female line."

Watching his mother convulse after healing one too many Starscourge victims or from visions had all but terrified a younger Ravus. Seeing his sister go through the same was too much.

"Is magic only in the females? You have had your own moments."

In battle, the elder Fleuret could have instances of a sixth-sense, foreseeing an attack before it happened and countering it. He also just seemed to know things without realizing it.

He'd confessed to her of knowing that an Aldercapt would be tied to him in marriage and that was why there wasn't any resistance from him when the emperor suggested it. His foreknowledge of the event could've been a vision, just like the abstract ones Lunafreya rambled on about.

"Song magic and healing is exclusive to the oracles. Visions, however, curse us all."

When did they first begin? The multitude of bleak sceneries, each causing him to awaken in a fit of hysteria. Unable to sleep, Ravus would stalk the hallways and collaspe in the kitchen for something to settle his nerves.

He'd seen his sister die so many times!

"She has begun preforming magic by singing. Vastly different from how the Kingsglaive members utilized magic." Imperatrix explained, cutting her apple into slices and nibbling on one. "Potent curative and defensive magic are her strengths."

"Yes…she has her gifts. Her powers will continue to grow, just as the gods wish."

"The Astrals? What is the meaning of all this?" Imperatrix threw out her arms in indication of the entire base. "Why are those destructive deities being roused?"

For a good minute, Ravus peered at her with his mismatched eyes and she expected to get brushed off. The same question was put to Ardyn and he avoided answering.

What didn't she know?!

"Do you know of the Prophecy of The True King?" Ravus at last spoke, anguished beyond his years and broiling for the unfair lot of his family, for Lunafreya.

"The King of Light, the King of Kings, the Chosen King to banish darkness from the world." Imperatrix recited the tale from Cosmology books, realizing why the oracle referring to Noctis as chosen stood out. "It is a fairytale."

He gave her a dry eyeroll, disdain dripping from every pore of his being. "Most in the empire do not follow The Six, but the Cosmology is not just religious text. It is history!"

"Highly debatable…"

She herself went on the decline of Astral worship after Shiva attacked the empire without cause. Not that it incited a big stir when the Glacian wasn't the patron of Gralea, that title belonged to Ifrit, the ancient king of Solheim. The king humans betrayed in their lust and greed for power, eliciting the Infernian's damnation and starting a series of catastrophes.

The Lucians, and Tenebraens to a degree, viewed Gralean tributes to the fallen god as blasphemous, but the offerings were a show of penitence to one they wronged and acknowledgement of the great deeds bestowed on them by him. Many forgot that it was Ifrit that bequeathed fire unto man and took an interest when the other gods were indifferent to the plights of fragile, ephemeral mortals.

Yet, the God of Fire would only be known as the Betrayer for turning on humanity and being thrown down by the other Astrals. The bad overshadowed the good…when it should be a balance. A life couldn't be defined so simply.

"Impera are you listening?" The high commander grunted, annoyed that the princess essentially tuned out his explanation on the Cosmology.

"Yes, of course, my lord!" She nodded quickly.

"Perjurer."

"We are not in court."

"I am the high commander, I can have you court-martialed."

"On what grounds? Theological differences?" Imperatrix huffed good-naturedly. "Leave all that to your cardinals and priests."

"They'd burn you heathens at the stake, but you all love fire so much that it would not be a punishment." Ravus raised an eyebrow patronizingly. "Remind me of that Gralean Eulogy again."

"Igne natura renovatur integra."

The elder Fleuret shook his head. Infidels the lot of them, but what did he care? If Ravus weren't closely associated to the church, he would become a heathen right alongside his wife. Although, after his work was done, the church would probably excommunicate him for slaying revered gods.

Pah!

The Astrals didn't care about him, never answering his pleas or even acknowledging him during his pilgrimage. He was nothing to them, so they were nothing to him.

"You and Lunafreya believe Prince Noctis to be the king mentioned in lore?" The princess remained skeptical, picturing the boy.

The last photo seen of Noctis by her was from a celebration party in honor of him graduating high school. A handsome young man with the bored streak of a camera-shy teenager completely out of place in his suit, surrounded by falsely smiling adults.

She found it astonishing that a prince even attended a regular school not catered to nobility.

The duties of royalty and the military prevented Imperatrix from receiving a classical education like her sisters. She'd been tutored most her life and then attended military academy at the age of fourteen with her going straight into deployment afterwards. Five years went by before she returned home...

That apathetic wallflower was supposed to a Warrior of Light? More like a teen guitarist out of one of Euphemia's magazines.

The princess sat upright in her seat, pushing aside the tray of food she was taking forever to eat. "What next then? There is no darkness to banish. Eos is balanced."

"For now. As the nights get longer, the daemons grow stronger. I am sure you have noticed both."

"I have…"

The daemons were getting smarter too…operating less like mindless beast and more like cohesive units.

"I do not know when, but soon…darkness will cover everything. There will be no sun, no light." Ravus stared past his audience, mind mirky with nightmares no sane person could handle. "Beasts howling, a red moon, Starscourge devouring…"

"Ravus!" Imperatrix shook his hand, jolting the man out of his terror.

He gasped for breath, bolting out of the seat to walk around till his mind cleared.

"If...if what you say is true, that is all the more reason to not kill Noctis." She lingered nearby, pausing before comforting the platinum-blonde. "I know you are hurting, but killing that boy will not bring you peace. Quite the opposite."

With the high commander bunched over the chair it was easier for the princess to lay a palm on the man's head, gentling her tone to pacify.

"Vengeance taints and leaves you hollow."

"And which experience are referencing?" He began tumultuously.

"I do not under—"

"Your mother's killers that gunned you both down? The rioters that shoved Pompeia out a window? The kidnappers of Zeno and Alexius? Or the dozens of other offenders?" Ravus twisted to glare at her with his blue eye. "You Aldercapts can write the bloody book on revenge!"

Imperatrix dislodged herself from him, heart tearing from the worded plunges of mutilation.

"Why do you all attack me so?! All I try to do is help!" She muttered through clenched teeth, physically restraining herself from lashing out.

Ardyn warned her to not rise to taunts.

The princess returned to her seat and the glacial indifference she expressed at his observing keenly reminded Ravus of Lunafreya, but unlike his sister, Imperatrix wouldn't verbally lash out.

Sometimes her composure got on his nerves. He knew for a fact she possessed the same temper as Furia, the same explosive anger that resulted in broken objects. It was in that rage truths could come out.

As much as he and his wife argued, those disputes brought forth things neither would admit under normal circumstances and once they cooled down, eventually led to an understanding. Those retainers of Furia had told Ravus often that his tantrums were an unhealthy communication method. But again, what did he care?

Results were results.

Imperatrix, however, refused to be baited into revealing herself to him.

The thick silence with neither occupant acknowledging the other concluded when Ravus's phone lit up on the desk, showcasing a photo of a winking second princess. His facial expression dared the woman across from him to make a joke about the caller id.

"Excuse me while I take this." The high commander decreed, answering the call in French so no passerby would be able to eavesdrop as he stepped into the hallway.

Alone, Imperatrix looked towards the window. "The puer regem is the Chosen King. Is that why he interests you as well, Ardyn?"

The chancellor seemed to always know everything, steps ahead of everyone else. She'd be more surprised if he knew nothing of the Cosmology lore. Fairytales from the Faith of the Six…

Did Regis believe the same of his son? Was that what he and Lunafreya were on about in Insomnia?

Too much! Why did Lucians have to be so complicated?

"May I ask what my sister wanted?" The princess posed once Ravus returned.

"My wife wants me to come home at the earliest chance. She would not tell me why, only that it was important." He gazed at the phone in contemplation. "It is unlike her to interfere with my work…"

With his head down, the elder Fleuret couldn't see the smirk on Imperatrix's face.

He could rant and complain all he wanted, kicking and tossing sand like a child. His infatuation was obvious in the sturdy denials, faint blushes, and secret photos. Ravus was smitten with his wife.

"Do you believe in fate, Impera?"

The sudden subject change bewildered the princess and without hesitation she answered. "Astra inclinant, sed non obligant. Faber est suae quisque fortunae."

"Well said."

Ravus hadn't like her, maybe even hated her after his mother was killed. Gone were the scant good memories of meeting a young girl of sweet temperament and boundless dreams, buried deep under replaying footage of Fenestala burning and the queen sacrificing herself for him.

Repetitive, forced time around her from their tenure in the academy and then in the legions left Imperatrix somewhere in the middle of two images of a film on a projector, torn between the pure, hopeful girl and the empire itself. It was difficult to distinguish the two at times.

But…

He needed her on his side. Imperatrix was the future of Niflheim.

"It is as you say, my future is my own and I choose to go against what is written." Ravus proclaimed, balling up his metal fist, the embodiment of what he was willing to do for his goals.

No more could be expressed on the subject as the lieutenant commander entered, informing them of the late hour and the commencement of the operation.

"Ally or foe, Commander Aldercapt?" The high commander questioned, waiting at the door as if it didn't matter, but the expectant gleam underneath the facade betrayed him.

When she joined him the scowl lifted marginally with relief and Ravus led Imperatrix out.

The darkness of the night almost caused the princess to miss the chancellor leaning nonchalantly on a crate. Disappointment in herself kept Imperatrix from immediately approaching him. She hadn't convinced the elder Fleuret at all, distracted by stories.

"Doing this will not endear Lunafreya to you." She pointed out from her place at the bottom of the stairs.

The base became encircled by red waves from the generator, protecting them all from daemons as the sky darkened. Magitek armors loudly patrolled the district. The soldiers were heavily armed and on alert for anything in their positions both on the ground and on the upper ramparts.

Would this end like Loqi's base?

"I do not care." The high commander crossed his arms, periodically flinching as he sensed trickles of magic, but couldn't pinpoint it.

"You care so much that it smothers. That is not the way…" The princess drew on the ground using the tip of her sheath. "Love never claims, it ever gives. Love never suffers, never resents, never revenges itself. Where there is love, there is life. Hatred leads to destruction."

As many times as she saw the faces of the dead, the faces of lost loves, Imperatrix steadfastly rejected the festering of a blackened soul. To lose herself to hatred would be a disservice to them.

Bearing the pain, feeling it in every morsel of her soul and keeping each of those faces in her memory to strengthen her resolve…that was how she chose to live. To honor the way they all touched her life.

"You are disgustingly romantic in an age of industrial modernism! How can you spew such nonsense with no shame?!" Ravus frowned, flushing from second-hand embarrassment for the woman at her dribble.

The princess muffled a giggle as he stomped up the stairway to reach another section of the base.

He abruptly stopped, whirling to hiss out. "I do not care what happens to me or Eos as long as Luna lives!"

The spotlights shining on him fashioned Ravus into an avenging angel and Imperatrix was momentarily captivated. Once the light moved on so did its recipient and she lowered onto the step.

Mission failed...

Ardyn shouldn't have brought her. The princess used her foot to erase the drawing of an ouroboros she'd done.

The atmosphere was subdued and normal. Too quiet when they were expecting an ambush of some sort.

"What are you doing?!" Imperatrix nudged a certain fedora off her eyes and sucked in her breath at the feel of leather brushing on her gloved arm.

Familiar cologne carried on the breeze unconsciously compelled her to lean closer to the man.

"This is boring. I'd much rather see the prince come in magic blazing." Ardyn whined, chin held up by his palm. "The least he can do is entertain me for all the trouble."

Outward chaos would help him ignore the canopy of chaos inside. Light magic always put the creatures in a foul mood, which was exceedingly ironic, considering what he was before falling off the garden-rose path.

"Ardyn…I could not sway him…" Imperatrix wrapped her arm around her sword, clutching it close.

"Fret not, Musa. Things have a way of working themselves out." He patted her head, lodging the hat over her eyes again. "And I won't disqualify you yet."

Clicking her tongue, the princess chucked the hat onto the owner's lap. She jostled her head, fixing the messy bun.

"Did you know of Noctis's _fate_?"

The chancellor blinked, amusement shrinking for the air of a trickster robbed of their punchline. "I can't believe Ravus told you! The boy's so sullen and seclusive that I didn't think he had it in him."

"You believe it then?" She ran her fingers through her bangs to get to her forehead, mentally exhausted from disrupted sleep, unending migraines, and sore muscles. "I expected you to snidely reject the Cosmology and tell me how silly I am for believing it."

Ardyn toyed with his hat.

"Is this why you are interested in the prince? Why you go out of your way to assist him?"

"More than you can fathom… Permit me to share a real secret." He ground his fingers into the black, fabric, keepsake of a naive fool bending to receive his crown from a child unwilling to see him go. "I have put so much time and effort into this blasted prophecy that if it turns out to be false, I will finally strike down those useless gods."

The princess was stunned, blinking rapidly for the split capture she caught of ink bleeding out Ardyn's eyes and mouth. Holding her breath, she stroked underneath the man's eye, exhaling at the feel of smooth skin.

"Dearest?" He questioned, shifting slightly to catch the tips of her fingers with a kiss as she pulled away. "Did I frighten you?"

"I thought I saw…" Imperatrix trailed off, rubbing her fingers together.

The princess didn't know what she saw or how to explain it without sounding mad.

Ardyn slid to the end of the bench. Face hidden from her view, he traced over the obvious places affected by the malady. It couldn't have slipped through without his knowledge. The pain from the corrosive acid would've alerted him right away.

"Quiet down…" He mumbled hatefully.

The parasites were getting extremely agitated, nearly screaming from the prince's magic filtering through the air. Now the liquid would begin spilling if they kept this up.

How it hurt to have them clawing and shrieking every time the light came near.

"Ardyn what is wrong?!" Imperatrix tugged on his arm, trying to move his shirt out of the way for her to examine his chest, the place he was digging into with his fingers.

"Best stop. Undressing me where everyone can see is unwise." He jested while weakly pushing her off.

"You are hurting, stop trying to distract me." She insisted, not caring if the patrolling soldiers saw her. "Let me see!"

"Mu—"

Alarms went off as did explosions.

"Never fails. The Caelums always make an entrance." The chancellor stood, groaning as he forcibly shoved the nuisances into a box for him to go about business without distraction.

He could feel his skin tingling from the abundance of magic gathering a few blocks over from them.

Imperatrix shuffled in place, stuck between leaving and staying. It was clear which worry took precedence and it killed her, but she had a duty to uphold. At the princess moving to join the other soldiers that had left, Ardyn seized her hand, spinning her into in his arms.

"This is no time for games! I must aid them!" She protested, struggling with the superior strength of the chancellor.

"Believe me, you're no help to them now." He remarked without humor to gaze upward.

Clouds gathered, rumbling with magical currents that lit the sky and penetrated the red barrier. Imperatrix screamed as thunder rained indiscriminately from above. When she opened her eyes again, Ramuh emerged from nothing.

The God of Lightning unfurled his cape, reaching down to claim something. Satisfied, he raised his staff, enough energy to power a city bouncing off the weapon.

"For goodness sake! Summoning a god is overkill!" Ardyn shouted scornfully, one hand holding down his hat against the rising winds and the other pulling a princess after him as he broke into a run.

Everything brightened till vision became a singular color of violet and then a resounding crack split the land as Ramuh's staff hit the ground. A vortex of wind and magic demolished more than half the base, leaving scorched earth and flames behind.

Imperatrix coughed and choked from the thick, acrid smoke. She couldn't control the massive trembles overtaking her body, the fear piercing her gut. Her ears rung and she could feel blood tricking from them.

The world spun.

Snow, blood, and screams. Shiva's wrath!

Rocks, blood, and screams. Titan's wrath!

And now…

Storms, blood, and screams. Ramuh's wrath!

She could hear them! The dead were crying out for help! Crying for her help!

"Impera, my dearest! My sweetest Musa, you are safe!" Ardyn hugged the princess from behind, stopping her from the possessed searching she was doing for victims that weren't there.

The lightning obliterated everything, leaving no bodies, no bones, only ashes. It was a startling difference between the materials of the base and a few feet over, nothing where once was something.

The princess jerked away. The chancellor recovered her, tightening the hold and whispering soothingly in her ear even though she couldn't hear him. Eventually, they sank to the ground.

"I have you, Impera. You're safe here in my arms, I swear it."

The shaking lessened as did the gasping, but his hold didn't loosen. The red-head swallowed the fragile soul in his grasp. He may not be the one experiencing an episode, but Ardyn was hurting all the same at seeing the one person he cared for stuck in agony.

No one understood suffering as well as he did.

"Veni, vidi, vici." Imperatrix chanted repeatedly until she could once again hear properly.

"Impera?" The chancellor tried once more since she appeared to have calmed.

She turned, curling into him with a sob and pressing as closely as she could to the man.

"Oh, oh…it's alright, my dearest. I will never you let die." He promised, cradling and nuzzling her with a possessive tenderness. "Not you."

Not ever again…

When he confessed his fear of losing her, Ardyn hadn't been lying. To lose his love in a second lifetime would hurt too much. He'd die from it, an empty shell for the monsters to take over. Then the world would truly have a reason to fear him and not the daemons.

The smoke cleared a bit by the time Imperatrix ceased trembling and could bear to separate from Ardyn. She peered into worried ambers.

"Back to your senses, sweet Musa?" He wiped the lasts of her tears and then withdrew a handkerchief to rub at her face dirtied with ash.

"Yes, I…apologize for that…" Imperatrix shied from his touch, shamed to have snapped.

What was wrong with her?!

She had to stop. A grown woman didn't break down like a frightened child.

It was so humiliating!

"You have nothing to apologize for or be ashamed of. It is human nature to fear the powerful. The gods _love_ reminding us of that lesson." The chancellor angled her chin, having the princess look him in the eye. "Rise up, Imperatrix Mundi, for you are unbreakable."

"Ardyn..."

She felt that powerful jump in her chest and leaned forward, hands drawing him into a deep kiss. He was unprepared for it and the tickle it brought forth from the depths. Something warm and small pierced through the noise. The creatures quieted, fearful and curious of the sensation.

All too soon it was over with Imperatrix pressing their foreheads together.

"Thank you, Darling Caesar." She smiled softly and rose off him.

The chancellor sat frozen, feeling bereft as the warmth receded and the voices diminished. He wanted to laugh outrageously.

She really did have a profound effect on him, bringing back the light, even if it was nothing more than a tiny fragment from all the years of the darkness eating away at it.

His lost blessing...

Inspecting their location, Imperatrix immediately got to removing the debris. The devastation had thrown them into a wired-off supply section. The fence got knocked over from them flying into it.

Their landing…

Ardyn must've took the brute of crashing into a steel crate, because she didn't feel too bad. The size of the dent though…

He had to have hit his back extremely hard.

When the chancellor joined her outside of their crash site, Imperatrix quickly went for his coat.

"My dear, you are very eager to disrobe me, but this isn't the place or time for it!" He objected playfully as she prodded at his back.

"How are you uninjured?" The princess couldn't feel any wounds on Ardyn's back and his vest wasn't stained red.

He was walking fine as well…

She would've cracked her spine from hitting the steel as he did.

"Did you want me to be?"

"N-No…but…"

It didn't make sense!

"As flattered as I am by your concern, we must move along. I can hear the mischief still going on." Ardyn put his coat on properly and sauntered forward.

Imperatrix sighed, the flaming ground to her side a visible memento of the danger.

The two trudged through what remained of the base. Debris, broken magitek armor, and fallen soldiers were all a trail to the prince.

"All this for a damned car! I am of a mind to smash the thing." The princess had to jog to keep up with the longer strides of the chancellor.

"I like the enthusiasm, but a man's car is sacred."

"So if the Regalia is unscathed and Vixen is not, you would leave it alone?"

"If my car is damaged, those boys will be walking everywhere and I will be sure to make it a positively _miserable experience_."

"I almost died and you do nothing. But Vixen being potentially broken begs action?" Imperatrix huffed. "How you love me."

The sound of battle got louder the closer they got to the square.

"If it makes you feel better, I did mess around with some things in the car."

"What did you do?" The princess shouldn't have been grinning, but a bit of vindictiveness was warranted.

She blamed her mischievous streak on Ardyn. A lot of his bad qualities rubbed off on her.

"Oh, just reprogrammed all their stations and rearranged their CD's. That last one's really going to drive the control freak crazy." The chancellor chuckled and then got back to his original trail of thought. "Oh, plus I adjusted the seats and mirrors all wrong, and hid the keys in the trunk with all that camping gear."

"You did all that?"

"I was very bored without you."

Imperatrix laughed at how petty he could be. Others wouldn't waste that kind of time on a prank, but the red-headed imp would.

She recalled how he managed to change all the clocks in the palace and everything was thrown off, from servant to emperor, no work got done that day, nor the next as everybody fixed the clocks.

"You are terrible." The princess remarked, coming to a stop at the new challenge before her. "Wait here."

She manuvered up a cluster of cargo crates, jumping across a few once on top. Below, she spotted Ravus approaching a group of boys.

"I have to hurry—" Imperatrix shrieked from finding Ardyn behind her and would've fallen were it not for him catching her by the arm.

How the hell?! She didn't hear him arrive!

"You'd better get down there before somebody dies." The chancellor pointed to the high commander choking out the prince. "I'll be down shortly."

She nodded, leaping down and tucking into a roll. With the generator destroyed, the princess could pass straight through the quarantined areas that were blocked by the red barrier, enabling her to reach her destination faster.

Hopefully, no daemons would spring into being nearby. Some of the search lights were still functioning and they might deter any that did.

Most unnerving was how the trail of bodies sharply declined the further she'd gotten from the blast area. There weren't even that many to stumble on which meant a majority of the men were killed in the blast.

How awful…

Nothing was left of them…it was like pure absence.

"You wanna go?! Lets do it!"

Imperatrix moved faster than she thought possible, sword wrenched out of its sheath and swinging furiously to block a series of weapon from impaling Ravus. He deflected the ones she missed.

Crisis averted, the high commander adjusted his stance to support the princess. Allies then.

Ravus sneered. "Should the Chosen fall, that too is fate. The fate I write!"

"W-What?! Who's she?!" The boy of dark hair and eyes, weapons circling his body in a halo of magic, cried out.

She didn't even need to guess. This was Prince Noctis.

Never before had Imperatrix felt this much pressure from a person. Magic poured off him intensely enough that a non-user like her could feel it.

Her nerves bubbled with anticipation.

"Well met, Your Highness." She curtsied properly for the boy of royal blood, mindful of the magical artifacts posed to fire on them. "I am the Imperial Princess, Imperatrix Tellus Aldercapt."

Noctis wavered, shocked by the news.

"We were under the impression you perished in Insomnia." The spectacled brunette said, edging protectively in front of the prince.

His accent and looks threw Imperatrix. They were distinctively Accordian and in opposition to his companion's darker, Lucian features.

Hold on…

The princess's eyes widened upon noticing the blonde boy propping the larger male on the Regalia.

"N-Nebula?" She choked out too low for anyone to hear.

The sky blue eyes, the flying golden locks, the sprinkling freckles. Those all belonged to her retainer!

"Was all of it a lie?! One big joke for you bastards to destroy my home?!" Noctis's yelling drew her attention back to the brewing fight. "Lets see how you like it!"

A sword materialized in his hands and flew in between Ravus and Imperatrix. The prince disappeared, instantly reappearing within striking range of the two imperials.

The high commander and princess lunged away in the nick of time from the surprise attack.

"He warped?!" Imperatrix didn't know what to expect for Noctis's abilities, but now she had to assume he was on par with Nyx when he held magic.

"Impera, we must split them. Noctis and the shield are mine!" Ravus told her in Latin to confuse the enemy, dashing towards his targets.

"And diplomacy fails. Why do I even bother?" Without a choice left to her, Imperatrix cut off the brunette from joining the fray, announcing in English. "I am your opponent!"

"So be it, Your Highness. I will not hold back." He warned, green orbs assessing her critically.

And so it would come to a battle between imperials and Lucians. The wheel spun continuously on, an ouroboros of smoldering enmity among mortals.


	17. Chapter 17

**Latin**

 **Memento mori** \- Remember that you will die.

 **French**

 **Espèces de merinos mal peignes _-_** Badly groomed merino sheep.

 _ **ménage à trois-**_ Household of three.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What business does the Imperial Princess have in a Lucian military base? Are you not busy with your many posts in Niflheim, or even Accordo?" Ignis interrogated, in the middle of repelling a series of slashes with his lance, annoyance rising every time his pristine clothing got even the slightest nick.

The close quarter fighting with the woman made it difficult for Prompto to assist for fear of friendly fire. While his bullets were magical and not the real, life-threatening, bleeding-out-kind-of-bullets, they still hurt to be hit with and sapped vitality.

No, the gunner was in the distance, a skittish hop of nerves watching the two battle. He really needed to get used to it already.

"You are very informed of my obligations." Imperatrix blew air upward, displacing her bangs from her eyes to better examine the younger man challenging her. "And your name…I think it is familiar…"

Ignis...where had she heard it before?

"It is my job to be informed for the sake of His Highness."

The princess whirled her sword expertly to deflect the lance into the ground by the blade and stepped on the staff, momentarily preventing further attacks from the male. She finally grasped the memory.

"You are the one with articles about me!" Imperatrix expelled a laugh behind her hand. "The prince did not appreciate your intelligence lesson."

"How do you know that?!" Ignis sputtered, glasses slipping down his nose along with his hands on the staff, bringing him closer to the female looming on top of the hilt.

"You really do not look Lucian. No more than your sunny friend." Imperatrix tilted her head in appraisement with him at such a close distance.

Ignis was a very handsome young male. She didn't mind having him for a fan. A bit uptight and routinely contemptuous of her, but much better than Nyx.

Freezing icicles and flaming hellfire! Why were westerners proving to be an interest to her?!

"From my understanding, foreigners were not held in high regard and yet two stand beside the crown prince."

"And you stand alone." The advisor dismissed the lance in a flutter of blue crystals merging into the air, summoning forth his daggers.

Falling into the loss of balance, the princess flipped on one hand and righted herself into fluid side-steps to elude Ignis's precise swipes. "On occasion I can with the company of my sword. I do not require constant protection."

The round recommenced.

Ravus drew the short stick out of the imperials, alternating between heavy-handed Gladiolus and magical-bomb Noctis. It was ironic that the literal bigger-man failed to overwhelm the high commander, a slender, shorter opponent. The skinny prince fluctuating in weapons and space proved to be the true inconvenience to the elder Fleuret.

Unlike Imperatrix, Ravus specialized in one weapon and one style. He was a master of the Fleuret fencing technique passed down through generations of texts. Technique would prevail over the illogical Caelum variety.

Being an adept to all their Royal Arms was an insane venture of the highest egotism and it made them easier to beat when they only had the slightest knowledge of how to use each weapon.

That was his mindset on the matter, but of course, the world had to flick him off.

The mechanical arm provided new brawn to its user, but the slightest presence of light magic made the metal creak and the darkness receded to safety. Ravus didn't yet have full command of it, leaving him in flux, unyielding one moment and yielding the next.

His confrontation with Noctis wasn't the one-sided slaughter he hoped for. Nothing ever went his way!

Imperatrix lucked out in her opponents. One of them was uncomfortable with shooting a woman and she didn't force his hand by approaching. The other fought vaguely similar to a certain glaive she spared with, making his movements simple to foresee.

However…

The match wasn't something the princess was giving much effort in. She was angry with all four of them for annihilating hundreds of people, for destroying millions of dollars in equipment and supplies, and for almost killing Ardyn and herself.

Then Insomnia would flash into her mind.

Noctis's scream of vengeance would pound and claw at her own grievances, tipping the scale in his favor till it broke the apparatus. He was a royal prince with the world at his feet abruptly turned orphaned and homeless. Was it any wonder he struck them just as devastatingly?

But did every person from her homeland deserve the reaper's cut? Would they all die at the hands of the gods chosen one? Protecting the people was her sacred oath and the princess would bleed for it!

Gods above! She abhorred the string of conflicting feelings!

Why did they have to keep leveling blows at one another?! Would Fortuna's wheel ever let them be free of bloodshed?!

Fate, monstrous and empty, a whirring wheel of malevolence. Shadowed and veiled, a plague upon mortals to which they could only bare their backs to the villainy.

The real empress of the world was against them all.

Preoccupied with despondency, Imperatrix's guard slipped. The lance went on a downward trail of her leg, tearing into flesh.

Ignis sucked in a sharp breath at the damage he caused. A poor time for his gentlemanly side to make an appearance. This was battle and she was the enemy.

"Do not expect sympathy from me!" He vented when the princess showed no anger, only an expression of fatigue and disinterest.

"I would not dare, my lord." The white-haired commander assured as dryly as possible, ripping off the loose fabric of her torn pants and letting it fly off.

"And do not underestimate me."

His secondary weapon was switched for his primary weapons, emerald eyes glinting with magical accuracy for pinpointing a target. He tossed a string of daggers at Imperatrix.

The princess growled at the onslaught of projectiles. She either had to dodge and suffered a sting of pain from her leg with every landing, or had to deflect with her sword, denting the blade in the process.

"Wretched Lucian magic!" Imperatrix hissed venomously.

"Prompto do not stand there. She is out of range!" Ignis rebuked the frozen gunner. "Shoot her!"

"B-But d-dude…she's a girl! The princess isn't really even fighting…" He disputed weakly and then yelped the more those spectacles of the advisor glowed with disapproval. "The one time a girl shows interest in me and she's trying to kill me. Gimme me a break, world!"

Imperatrix had been frequently eyeing Prompto throughout the skirmish, contemplating how one of Verstael's children could be in the company of Noctis.

The boy didn't recognize her at all.

He behaved like an average person with zero survival instincts. Refusing to engage her on the battlefield on account of her gender like some old-fashioned knight. His gentleness would've cost him greatly if Imperatrix were a crueler person, willing to exploit that soft nature.

Killing him would've been easy...

Prompto's behavior made it clear he wasn't conditioned like the advisor and shield of the prince. They didn't hold back or hesitate, danger seen in everyone opposing their sovereign and they moved to neutralize it, exactly how servants were to respond.

Why was someone like Prompto wielding a gun? A soft hand shouldn't be holding a weapon.

"Do not ignore me!" Ignis pressed his speed on Imperatrix, arms moving swifter with each lunge until one broke through her defense.

"You want my attention?" She said lowly, face glazing over with displeasure as his daggers screeched against her blade. "Then I shall give it!"

The advisor grunted, barely catching her blade between his daggers after she moved it to fast for him to see. He shook under the pressure of her using both hands instead of the flippant one-handed style she'd previously used.

This time the princess wasted no time in demonstrating that her earlier actions were of leisurely analyzation, a reflection of her regret and unwillingness to fight. Ignis's continued offensive now worked at her nerves, as did the stinging from her leg.

"You are lucky it is a standard weapon in my hand and not a specialty one."

Her might was enough to cause her opponent to skitter back on the pavement, oxfords scrapping noisily. A bullet flying past saved Ignis from a blow to the head, but Imperatrix still managed to roundhouse kick the man from her range.

Prompto called out to his groaning friend and then yowled as a knife knocked the gun out of his hand. Inspection revealed that he wasn't bleeding or injured, just shocked and stung by blow.

"You should have shot me. Why do you not?" The princess advanced on the boy with no common sense.

It almost hurt to look at him.

So expressive…unlike her retainer. All the years together and Imperatrix only saw tiny flashes of genuine emotion from the elder Besithia.

She wanted Nebula to be able to express more than indifference and violence. Was that possible?

"What do you mean? I'm not gonna shot a—"

"A woman?" Imperatrix interrupted him, stopping a few feet in front of the shorter boy. "Such sentiment. Did the other imperials receive the same?"

"That's…that's different…" The gunner backed up, gulping down the queasy feeling he got from thinking too much about the people on the other end of his barrel.

Noctis needed him.

Prompto trained and trained so he could support his friend. At some point his hand would stop shaking any time he faced a soldier and not an MT. Then he wouldn't be a burden to Ignis and Gladiolus.

All he had to do was breathe. Always remember to breathe, that stopped the panic attacks and would eventually refocus his mind.

Cor gave him that advice when he saw how much he struggled in battle.

"Prompto…is it?" Imperatrix stepped closer. "You are so different from them. How are you here with the prince?"

A Besithia in the company of a Caelum? It made no sense.

"Uh, um…well..." He stumbled to answer with the attractive woman gazing so deeply at him and speaking so melodically with her accent.

The absolute befuddlement and wonder of her expression was far from the glaring and clipped regard she gave to Ignis. The intensity of her attention resulted in his cheeks flushing an absurd shade of scarlet and him sweating all over.

Was she like…in love with him? Like…love at first sight?!

Oh, man…

What about Cindy?!

"Y-You're really p-pretty and a p-princess, but we just met!" The blonde stuttered out, heart going a mile a minute for actually rejecting a female, when all he wanted for the longest time was for one to acknowledge him. "And you're an imperial!"

So unfair! He wasn't one to turn down a potential girlfriend, but he didn't have a choice in this situation. He'd read _Romeo and Juliet_ in high school and that wasn't going to be him.

Prompto saw the mounting incredulity pass over her in slow motion. She started speaking in another language and he knew things had gone downhill.

Probably cursing him out over the rejection.

He didn't mean to upset her, but the truth was necessary! Plus, he had Cindy!

"I'm sorry, but it can't work out!" The gunner insisted, waving his hands in a pacifying manner and forgetting all about her being an enemy.

All he saw was a female, insulted and hurt by his words. This was his mess and he had to fix it before she started crying.

"Prompto, you fool!" Ignis chastised, utilizing the insanity to restrain the princess with a dagger at her neck and side. "She was not flirting with you, but questioning your intelligence. As am I!"

"Hey, that's uncalled for!"

The advisor wasn't sure if he was objecting to his libel or the woman's predicament. Either way, he frowned greatly at the younger male, expression daring Prompto to advocate further for an enemy.

Imperatrix leaned back from the threat to her neck, effectively moving closer to Ignis. She felt him tense.

"You know our language?" The princess inquired in her native tongue.

"Yes, I know Latin. It comes in handy when dealing with imperial intelligence."

"You are the brain of the entourage? Did you come up with the brilliant plan of crippling the empire by demolishing its bases?"

"No. The marshal started us on that path, but I have no objections to it after what was done to our home." The dagger pressed to skin.

Imperatrix sighed, looking away from the blonde's confused and worried face. "Cor the Immortal. He and I shall be dueling one day. I am sure of it."

Not just for all his meddling, but for the sake of her friend.

"Uh, Ignis…what're you saying to her? You're not…gonna…" Prompto dragged his finger across his neck, unable to vocalize what he figured the victim feared, but more than able to dramatize it.

A complete fail at soothing the person held captive.

"Please. As if he could." Imperatrix scoffed, returning to English for the benefit of the audience. "As if any of you neophytes could."

They were as ridiculous as her retainers.

"Arrogance with a blade to your neck? Niffs, I tell you." The advisor mimicked her incredulity with his own puff of disbelief.

"It is hard to believe you were ever an admirer of my work with your attitude. It is to be expected though." The princess pressed her palm to his stomach. "You were at least more mannered than Nyx."

"E-Excuse me?!" Blood rushed to his face at her touch and he did his best to distance their bodies while keeping the woman restrained, but obviously that wasn't possible with her pressed against him, adding more to his flustered state.

"Granted, Ignis." She said teasingly, furthering his blush and leaving the advisor unprepared.

The stunner in her glove activated.

Prompto screamed as his friend got knocked out via electrocution. The princess had the decency to catch her quarry and lay him on the ground, rather than let him collide with the ground. She even set his fallen glasses back in place.

Much different than Nyx in temperament, calm and calculated to his brashness. Smarter too.

Not bad for a Lucian that looked distinctly Accordian.

"I trust I do not have to do the same to you?" She waved her sparkling glove in warning.

The blonde hopped way back in answer. "Nope, nope! I'm good."

"Tend to your friend and stay out of the fighting, Prompto."

The gunner dived for Ignis after Imperatrix began walking away. "Holy crap! Iggy, dude, you're going to be okay! I got you!"

The princess broke into a run as she honed in on her ally.

Ravus's eyes darted between his two attackers, scowl lengthening the expanse of his face at how dragged out the whole affair was becoming.

The useless shield had made it his personal mission to subdue him in return for being tossed into a car. Gladiolus's aggressive tactics made it difficult to reach Noctis. Obviously, his small saber wasn't useful for overpowering a broadsword.

It was miraculous that the thin rapier hadn't broken yet.

"Get out of my way!" The high commander snarled at the shield.

"Hell no! I gotta pay you back for the cheap shot, asshole!" Gladiolus argued, putting more force into the swing of his sword, kicking up gravel in the process and leaving a thin crevice in the ground.

Eyesight hindered, Ravus was thrown by the next attack and put in the range of a warping prince. He growled, mentally bracing himself for the inevitable hit.

An image pierced his mind.

The high commander twisted his body, giving an opening for Imperatrix charge through, clipping Noctis on the side of his chest and knocking the weapon out of his hand. The prince rolled on the ground, cradling his wound and angrily glowering at the princess for ruining his move.

His messy state from rolling in dirt ruined the image of ferocity.

"Noct!" Gladiolus rushed for his sovereign.

"Nah-uh…I am not dealing with that mammoth." Imperatrix informed Ravus in French.

The shield was even taller than Ardyn and the red-head seemed a tower to her. Not to mention the darker feature man was rippling with muscles he had no problem showcasing with an open vest.

Wasn't he cold, half-dressed as he was? Lucians weren't used to colder weather.

"You wretch! I told you, Noctis is mine!" The high commander rejected the decision.

"Oh, Darling…be a gentleman for once."

"For you? Absolutely not."

"I swear, marriage would not have worked out between us." Imperatrix deadpanned, trying another angle on the high-maintenance Fleuret. "I immobilized two of the four, therefore you have no right to whine over my selection."

"You pompous bastards are through!" Gladiolus roared, heavy footsteps alerting the two.

The imperials splintered off. The princess whirled out of range of the burly shield to engage the smaller foe, leaving Ravus stuck with the opponent he didn't want.

Imperatrix became embroiled in a twirling dance, anticipating the warp strikes by sound and narrowly eluding the sharp edges of never-ending weapons. Noctis was an army on his own, switching back and forth through the entirety of his inventory.

She barely had a chance to breathe, keeping toe-to-toe with his barrage.

"You were playing around while I was actually fighting!" Ravus accused the princess, punching Gladiolus in the chest. "Women, the vainest creatures on Eos!"

"If you needed my help, all you had to was call!" She countered, kicking aside a sword that would been replaced with Noctis in an ambush. "Why are we friends, again?!"

The boy reappeared in the new spot, disoriented and open.

"We are not friends! I am just stuck with you for all eternity, hence I tolerate you more than the average pest."

"Will you two quit jabbering in a language I don't understand!" Noctis interjected over Imperatrix's response.

The fact they were bickering…or playfully bickering? He couldn't entirely tell...but all the same it ticked him off immensely.

"If you're gonna talk, do it so everybody can understand." He continued his grousing as the power of the armiger faded out and the dizziness hit.

Gladiolus covered him, noticing the drain. "You alright, Noct?"

"Just…great…" The prince wheezed, regaining his breath and then chugging down an ether from his pocket.

Summoning Ramuh took a load of magical energy and the back-to-back fighting was definitely putting him in crisis mode. Channeling the full armiger again was a no-go.

"What…about Specs and Prom?" Noctis felt the effects of the ether marginally return his magic.

"Prompto's fine from what I can tell. I don't know about Ignis, he's down. But since our cameraman's not crying his eyes out, he must be okay." Gladiolus couldn't risk more than a backwards glance to confirm his assessment with two imperials threatening them.

The news of his friends being anything but fine didn't cool the prince's head.

"I'm gonna make them pay." He called forth the engine blade.

"Don't be a hothead, both of them are on a completely different level from the small-fry we've dealt with."

"I know, I know!"

The princess groaned from the numbness shooting up her leg. "Ravus, I cannot face him. You must keep the mammoth at bay."

He huffed, brushing off the dirt on his uniform. "Do you not have a curative?"

"Yes, but I will use them sparingly."

"Fine." The high commander conceded, flexing his mechanical fingers. "Once I take out that waste of space, you will cede the prince to me. That is an order."

She laughed, sarcastically patting his back. "Your will, my hand."

Incapacitating them would be the only way for tempers to chill. Then maybe Imperatrix would be able to talk to the boys.

Pity, that they had to be beaten down first.

"What a show this has been." Ardyn mussed, watching all the fighting from above.

Laid out on a suspended crate, opera glasses magnifying the prince and princess, he smiled at how his pathetic pupil struggled to keep pace with his woman now that the crystal's magic wasn't giving him an unfair advantage. Noctis's technique was lazy due to the boy rarely facing someone he couldn't dispose of in minutes with all that flitting around.

Seeing Imperatrix so capable almost abated some of his hatred for Glauca's training methods for her. When he learned of the savage way he groomed her in the academy, Ardyn just about blew his cover, on a murder mission for the general.

That would've been the day he revealed his horrifying, scourge-bleeding face and every bit of the dark powers bequeathed to him by hordes of daemons dwelling inside his body. All to kill the bastard who purposely hurt Imperatrix out of spite.

Uncaring of the foul mood wafting off the chancellor like a toxic ocean, Iedolas approached him, demanding an explanation. What he heard led to the emperor locking them in his office and then talking Ardyn down like one of his children on a crazy streak.

Annoying and condescending at the time, but amusing years later.

Were it not for Imperatrix later painting the brute in a better light and stubbornly swearing that she could handle his methods, he'd have carried on with eventually killing the general under the noses of the royals. Glauca unfortunately got to extend his days due to a promise wrangled out of him by a snow-haired savior.

How he loved the princess, but she was too benevolent. It was more than satisfying to see the man reach his end in Insomnia.

Those revolting Lucian statues were good for something.

"Oh, Your Highness! What form, what elegance!" The chancellor cheered out loud in Persian for his ears and hers. "I can't take my eyes off of you!"

Her head flew around, searching for him and she paid for it. He groaned sympathetically as the princess got clubbed in the head by the handle of the prince's mace. She wobbled around, covering the afflicted area.

"Dear me, that had to hurt."

Ardyn directed his attention to Ravus.

The mechanical arm was still in the test phase, its more powerful functions weren't meant to be used by the wearer. He was benefitting from its durability, trapping Gladiolus's broadsword in his hand and then throwing the male around.

"Oh, oh, timber!" The red head yelled as the shield went down, a loud affair heard from all the way up to his perch. "Well done you two."

Ravus and Imperatrix disposed the core fighters with skill and wit, no magic involved. They were shaping up nicely, good adversaries for the trainees he unfortunately had to conduct towards greatness.

He'd make an empress out of the princess yet. She'd need an upgrade though…very soon.

Noctis and his retinue, frankly, were a disappointment. Drunk on magic, the idiotic boys neglected to physically improve themselves. Citadel training couldn't substitute real-world experience.

Although…it wasn't entirely their faults. So far, no worthy opponents opposed them, revealing how infantile the four actually were.

At this level, they were worthless. As worthless as the oracle.

Why was he surrounded by such weak mortals? In his time, people were far more sturdy.

Then again, those were the days of all manner of creatures inhabiting Eos. From gods to mythical beasts, humans had to face a lot worse. This time period was too peaceful and lax to produce real heroes of legend.

Why bother improving when the worst these people had to face were daemons they could hide from with the right means?

Weaklings...the lot of them.

"This won't do. I need you all to grow stronger." Ardyn removed the opera glasses from his eyes, sighing gravelly for what he needed to do next. "I hate doing this!"

He allowed the raging beasts closer to the surface, wincing as the familiar burning sensation followed the trail of sludge bleeding out his eyes. Worse, was the cough that escaped and with it, more deadly liquid pooling from his mouth.

"And so enters the master of night horrors." He muttered bitterly, amber eyes glowing in the darkness.

This wasn't even the worst of the transformation, barely crackling the glass.

"And she wants to lift the mystery? To see this?"A ragged chuckle escaped out. "Even I don't like seeing it. Sweet Musa, you could never love this."

Black tendrils of magic gathered around Ardyn. He disappeared in a flash of violet and black.

"Noct, Noct what're we gonna do?! Ignis and Gladio are both ko-ed!" Prompto whispered frantically to the prince standing in front of him as the vanguard.

He felt like a total failure! Everybody else had been working their butts off. Five-star players doing their best to take down the bosses.

And what did he do? Wave around a gun like an idiot.

"We're gonna finish this. They're both tired and we've got an advantage." Noctis lifted his lips in a sideways grin, reassuring the anxious gunner. "You and me are way better at combos."

He never imagined his civilian friend would be put through all this grim bullcrap. Prompto wasn't raised with this ugliness hanging over his head like himself, Gladiolus and Ignis. All three of them knew that at some point the fight might be brought to them and they were all willing to do what was necessary.

The Crownsguard training Cor put Prompto through was supposed to be for monsters and self-defense, not killing imperial soldiers.

Noctis wasn't blind. He saw how panicked and freaked out the blonde got at having to shoot people. Shit, the prince got clammy from plunging a blade into flesh and not metal, and he'd been conditioned for it.

Cyborgs, magitek, or whatever else the empire threw at them were things he hated, but now after a few trips to some imperial bases, Noctis preferred them over actual soldiers. They stopped moving and exploded upon defeat. No screams or…choking gasps from them.

Machines didn't cause a surge of upchucking everything in his stomach afterward when no one was looking.

What did he get himself into? This wasn't at all how life was supposed to turn out.

"Y-Yeah! We've got this." Prompto matched the prince's confidence, taking a deep breath before raising the gun.

Ravus steadied Imperatrix with an impatient tug on her arm.

"Tell me you do not have a concussion."

"Just a split brow." She removed her hand, red wetness seeping into her glove.

Damned Ardyn distracted her with his cheering.

"Then pluck up. The fight is still on."

"Enough. They are down half." The princess shook her head and then regretted it as blood leaked into her eye. "The time to talk is now."

"Bull! I will finish this." He denied her, proceeding forward.

"Ravus, stop!"

The white prince and black prince rampaged while the other companions hesitated to follow the leader. The gunner repeatedly moved his gun from the princess and yelling males.

Imperatrix observed him instead of attacking.

"How did you become part of Prince Noctis's retinue? Does he know who you are?" She quizzed the boy with none of Nebula's guile, wiping at her brow with a handkerchief.

Her retainer wouldn't have hesitated to shoot an enemy. Gender, age, or ethnicity meant nothing to him, a target was a target.

Seeing this boy brought forth regrets for what could have been. If…if the first one lived, would he have stayed soft like this anomaly in front of her?

"What do you mean? Of course Noctis knows I'm not nobility like Gladio and Ignis. But he doesn't care..." Some of his confidence shrunk in precedence for insecurities. "How do you know that? Have you guys spied on me or something?!"

"Your mind moves far too fast…" Imperatrix mumbled, groaning for the sensitivity of the cloth meeting her skin and enflaming the nerves.

The area was swelling up.

"Why is a Besithia allied with a Caelum? How is this possible?!"

"I've got no idea what you're talking about…" Prompto edged tentatively closer to the princess. "Are you okay?"

She kept cradling her face and wasn't making any moves against him or Noctis. Did Imperatrix not want to fight anymore?

He did hear her yell at Ravus, but since it wasn't English, the gunner didn't know what they said.

"Stay back, boy." Imperatrix halted him with a raised hand, craning her head in the direction of a noise she heard. "What…was that?"

The princess could've sworn it was the growling of a daemon, but none were in sight. Still, her nerves were strung with urgency.

So focused on finding monsters in the dark, the princess failed to prevent Ravus from seriously hurting Noctis.

"A weakling prince that is nothing without his servants to coddle him. Luna's sacrifice is wasted on you!" The high commander raved hatefully, prosthetic arm responding to his ill sentiments, black whips coiled around his body and clashed against the magic of Noctis.

Both their magical energies fought for dominance, coating the males in a ethereal shroud of color. The brilliance was both a repellant and beacon to those lurking in the shadows.

"Shut up! You don't have a leg to stand on, hiding behind all those machines!" The blunette pursed his lips, glaring at the man who didn't look anything like he remembered. "And Luna wouldn't have to sacrifice so much if you did your job as her brother and not the empire's lapdog!"

"Espèces de merinos mal peignes!"

"I don't know what you said, but I know it was an insult so right back at you, dickhead!"

Tired as he was, the prince lost ground. That slight give emboldened Ravus to lash all out with the malcontent energy, sending Noctis flying. The boy groaned, seizing up from the unnatural prickling he felt from something attempting to infiltrate him.

"Dammit! This stings!" Noctis rasped out. "What the hell?! I thought only Luna could use magic?"

His stomach churned and every gut instinct screamed from the wrongness of the sensations. His body worked wildly to expel the damage. Something about Ravus's attack messed with his magic, like his immune system was now going all-out on a virus before it infected him.

Shit! It felt similar to when his back became paralyzed from Starscourge.

How could Ravus have the same power as a daemon?!

"Disgraceful! I refuse to allow garbage to be my sister's death." The elder Fleuret stalked up to the fallen boy, lifting the saber for the final blow. "Destiny dies with you."

"I'd say that's far enough." Ardyn declared, fierce grip impeding the high commander from dealing the death-strike. "A hand, Highness?"

A smile of acid for the brat. His skin still itched terribly from the burning ooze of scourge. Fix-ups done by the beasts healed the wounds, but didn't erase the pain.

This wasn't a moment where he could ignore the discomfort.

Noctis got on his last nerve, both him and Lunafreya! Two children waving toys and flaunting their god-given gifts to make up for true artistry. He just wanted to throw them into the volcano of Ravatogh.

"Not from you!" The prince jumped to his feet, warping some feet from the imperials.

His skin crawled doubly from their presence. Funky, malicious, magical vibes bounced off them.

Ravus was one thing, being descended from oracles and blessed with light, but something was clouding that. If he was a puzzle, then the chancellor was a goddam rubik's cube, and Noctis loathed those kinds of games.

Ardyn was utterly creepy and made his insides nauseous. Despite all that, there weren't any indications that he was any different from a regular person. The weirdo shouldn't be giving Noctis any kind of magical reaction.

"Oh, but I'm here to help." The chancellor gestured to the high commander he was restringing by the wrist.

"You meddlesome knave." Ravus snarled faintly, prepared to shove the man off with his prosthetic, but as soon as the limb moved closer to Ardyn, a deep jolt of pain foiled the plan.

The red head skipped a few feet from the shorter man, an inaudible cackle tickling his throat as the elder Fleuret clenched at the metal betraying him.

How foolish! As if the darkness would strike its superior.

"Noctis!"

The prince turned, relieved to see all three of his companions coming to his aide.

Things got real dicey with both Gladiolus and Ignis out for the count. He hadn't realized it before, but the two of them were the backbones for his offensive style.

Noctis…relied heavily on them…

Prompto wasn't suited for close combat. When faced with two hard-hitters, the gunner's bullets weren't nearly as helpful as a broadsword or daggers.

Ravus…

The rat got him because he was already burned out from taking on the whole base and wining. No way would the traitor have won under normal circumstances!

"Why? Why now?!" The high commander glared crazily at the walkie-talkie, almost crushing it in his wrath.

He had Noctis! He had him!

"Stop it!" Imperatrix wrestled the device from him, raising the volume and extending the antenna to better hear.

Fearful of daemons being in the vicinity, she got Prompto to assist his fallen friends and then went on the imperial channels to verify the situation, but hers was fried from the lightning explosion. Ravus's was the next option.

Presently, the princess couldn't get a clear signal.

The daemons were in the area…but weren't attacking, fearful, wary, or waiting. They weren't in immediate danger due to this.

The same couldn't be said for the legion stationed on the outer perimeter. They were lucky to be excluded from Ramuh's range, but now they might be unlucky enough to face daemons.

"How are you going to help?" Ignis prudently studied the pair fiddling with the walkie and the chancellor.

Ravus and Imperatrix were speaking in French, thinking that would confound him since he revealed to be educated in Latin. Again, he was steps ahead of them. Their preoccupation with reserve forces wasn't a secret from him.

As advisor to the future king, Ignis was well educated. He knew most the languages spoken in Niflheim and Accordo.

Noctis would never be caught unaware under his supervision.

"By taking the army away." Ardyn answered, head tilting in mock sympathy for the boys and voice waning into a babyish timber. "You four look positively beat. Wouldn't want you biting the dust so soon."

More enemies would be a nightmare for them. This was primarily supposed to be a stealth mission, but Noctis misaimed his warp on an enemy. They weren't able to silence the fellow before another patrol spotted them, thereby alerting the whole place.

The prince pushed himself far too much, chugging ethers and hi-potions after summoning the God of Lightning. No telling how many more would be needed for a second summoning to quell another regiment.

If they could avoid a massive brawl, Ignis would at least hear out the chancellor.

"You expect us to believe that?" Gladiolus growled, finger pointing in the direction of the pair. "With them over there plotting?"

Imperatrix spared a glance for the hostile man, returning her attention to the dial of the walkie. She almost had a good signal.

"Give it to me!" Ravus seized the device, fed up with her tinkering.

"Do not be so rough with it."

"Be quiet."

"Be gentle."

Ardyn sighed, waving a hand at the feuding allies. "I know you only speak English, but does that look like plotting to you?"

Two people fighting over a walkie-talkie wasn't threatening at all.

"What're they arguing about? Dropping a bomb on our heads?" Noctis sneered, almost willing to believe the chancellor at how ridiculous the older adults looked.

"Funny, I thought that was your opening act."

There was an entire space of scorched land behind him to prove so.

Ignis thrust his hand out to prohibit the prince from lunging forward, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Why are they trying to contact the army if you have offered to remove them?"

Four heads flew in his direction. His associates were shocked and the chancellor looked impressed.

"Oh, yeah! Ignis was able to talk to the princess in her language." Prompto mentioned, going for a look of intimidation at Ardyn. "He can tell if you're lying!"

The red head couldn't help chuckling at the weak attempt.

Nebula was far more menacing. This kid was hilariously harmless.

"I'm so wounded to not have your faith!" Ardyn feigned sadness, hand over his heart. "I assure you, something more pressing than you all requires the army's attention."

"What does that—" Ignis whirled to face the loud noise of the walkie.

They'd gotten the right channel.

The lieutenant commander yelled for Ravus to aid them against a daemon horde. The high commander relayed orders for them to hold their ground until he arrived.

He exhaled, slowly facing the bane of his existence.

"We do not have time, let them go." Imperatrix insisted, taking ahold of his arm.

"What? Ready for round two?" Noctis balled up his fist, shrugging off his advisor's restrictive hand.

The princess stared at him, disappointed to how their meeting turned out. "Get in your car and leave, Prince Noctis."

He fell out of his defensive posture at hearing her speak in English for the first time.

The entire time they fought, not a word spilled from her lips, just the grunts of someone fighting a battle they didn't want to. He was well acquainted with those whines, often belting them out during his many training sessions with Gladiolus.

He'd shouted, insulted her, questioned her, and all she gave him were pitiful expressions. Her silence was an admission of guilt.

Imperatrix was the worst, saddest, excuse of a princess!

The woman probably helped destroy Insomnia. She didn't have any right to look sad, that was his right! He was the one to lose a dad!

"All of you, leave now." Imperatrix repeated, hand motioning to the Regalia. "You have your prize, take it and go."

The boys stood still, unsure of the offer and waiting for signs of a trap. The high commander's extreme displeasure with the princess's choice was proof enough that he didn't want to let them leave.

She tugged the man in the opposite direction of the prince. Ravus relented with a final enraged exclaim.

"Are they…really letting us go?" Prompto voiced quietly, afraid that he might jinx them by being louder.

"It…appears so." Ignis relaxed with two less imperials in the vicinity.

"But why?" Noctis kicked the ground, pissed about not giving them a smackdown.

"I vaguely heard someone mention daemons. That would explain their departure."

"Bingo! You are the savant of the group." Ardyn reminded them he was present, smirking at their poorly-hidden startles. "Do be good boys and drive off. I won't be able to save your skins a second time."

He gave a "shoo" motion with his hand. They in turn gave him withering looks of contempt, periodically glancing about for an ambush as they walked to the Regalia.

"My job is always so thankless." The red head turned his back on the prince, leisurely traveling towards the new problem.

Now to make sure he hadn't gone overboard with the distraction.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"High Commander Fleuret!"

Ravus stopped his lieutenant from ramming into him with a palm to the frenzied man's shoulder.

"Calm yourself, Olberg." He ordered, swiftly analyzing the mayhem going on in front of the gate.

Lo and behold, exactly what he didn't want to be bothered with, was mucking up everything. An Iron Giant presided over the battlefield like it'd already won and was waiting for the peons of bomb daemons and grenade daemons to finish off the weakling humans scurrying from flames and explosions.

The screaming soldiers, the burning smell, the inhuman gurgling of night creatures, and the heat. All of it put Ravus in a fouler mood.

"Your orders, sir?" Erik Olberg asked with only a hint of trepidation after being admonished by his superior.

"Retrieve my weapon." He unhooked the standardized sword from his waist.

"But sir…you're still testing out the arm! Using Alba Leonis may be too much."

"I did not ask for your opinion, Lieutenant. Get my sword!"

"Y-Yes, High Commander Fleuret!" Erik wilted under his glare, saluting the man and then running to do as bid.

Ravus called for the princess in the thick of battle. "Catch woman!"

He lobbed the saber in her direction. The princess kicked away a detonating bomb, grasping the sword by the hilt and releasing it to slice another foe in half. She took a moment to cough, the detonated daemon's smoke infiltrating her lungs.

"How are you going to assist? Or will you stand above while your men fight?" Imperatrix yelled back to the man overlooking everything from his position on an overturned truck.

"Hold your tongue! I am in command." He dismissed their conversation to bark orders to the other soldiers fighting amongst her.

The injured were to retreat behind the barricade Ravus was having others establish beneath his position. The melee fighters were to engage the grenades, their defeat would spell the deaths of the bombs and thin out the herd. The ranged fighters were to retrieve supplies for combating the daemons and support the front line. All those instructions were given confidently and quickly, subduing the alarmed atmosphere.

The battle shifted in favor of the mortals.

Ravus needled her temper with his constant barbarous attitude, always picking a fight when there wasn't one because anger coursed in his body, and being an overall emotionally-constipated hedgehog. That was the man ninety-five percent of the time.

The other five-percent of the time, he was a prince, born to lead and protect.

"Commander Aldercapt stop smiling and get to it!"

She elevated a sword to the front of her face, saluting him with the grin still in place. His crossness with her tease couldn't be expressed anymore overtly by the heaviness of his frown and sinking eyebrows.

Imperatrix cut through the throng of daemons and licking flames, dual blades aiming for the boss. The Iron Giant hadn't done anything but stand sentry, highly irregular for its kind.

The ones she faced in Galahd came straight for blood.

Somehow the princess would have to overcome an enemy way out of her league with the limitations set upon her. There was no Lunafreya to weaken the beast or powerful magitek weapons to bolster her abilities.

The odds were terrible, but Imperatrix would face them.

"Stay back! This is one is formidable." She instructed the soldiers forming around her for protection.

"You can't face it alone!" One of them voiced what the others were thinking.

The exclaim was accompanied with loud agreements. They ignored the possible danger to safeguard the princess.

Part annoyed for the defiance, and part humbled by the loyalty, Imperatrix muttered the family motto before engaging the Iron Giant, trusting the stubborn men to fight smartly and not foolishly.

The daemon roared at the challenge, massive blade lifting in preparation.

"Use the flash grenades!" She shouted.

White filled the area, substituting the roar with a cry. Disoriented, the giant sunk to its knees, vulnerable to attacks.

"Attack while its guard is down!"

Everyone slashing and firing at the daemon did minimal damage against the monster's thick hide. Its defense was too strong for their equipment.

An outburst of dark energy sent all the attackers wheeling through the air. The Iron Giant stood to its full height, enormous hand opening.

"Run!" Imperatrix recognized the move.

They couldn't prevent it.

The soldiers heeded her words, but were too late.

Some of them screamed as gravity pulled them towards the daemon. The fortunate ones to escape the area of effect and the ones to avoid getting sucked in, helplessly looked for a solution to the grave issue.

Imperatrix groaned, a wail soon bursting out once she seized a man by the arm to keep him from being pulled in. Her grip on the saber stabbed into the ground was the only thing keeping them out of the creature's magic.

"How is this fair?!" She complained intelligibly with the whipping wind drowning out her voice.

The Caelums possessed magic. The Fleurets posted magic. Even goddam daemons possessed magic!

Why the hell couldn't the rest of the population have it as well?! She didn't normally covet it, but instances as these made Imperatrix fiercely envious.

She felt her arm might break from more men latching onto the one she was supporting. They became a swinging string of humans. The sword wobbled, loosening from the ground.

Imperatrix looked between the lone saber and the dozens of fearful eyes behind her.

People were relying on her.

Would she fail them? Fail them as she had so many others?

An entire garrison downed by a lightning rod of magic!

Hot liquid began to pool in her eyes at the thought of losing the remaining legion members. The choking feeling increased tenfold as she witnessed the Iron Giant plucking people circling it in the air from its gravity spell, squeezing the life out of them, disposing the broken bodies like toys, and then moving onto a another victim to repeat the cycle.

The body count was piling up!

Nothing…she was nothing...

Memento mori.

She couldn't save anyone!

"Why?! Why am I not strong enough?!" Imperatrix cried.

People like her father and mentor were so far ahead of her. Their strength absolute, victories assured to them.

Iedolas sailed the wide, blue seas, overcoming the mighty Altissan fleet and breaking up the Lucian-Accordian Allaince. Glauca rose so quickly through the ranks of the military and remained undefeated in battle, that he'd become a legendary tale to be repeated to recruits in the academy. She'd never reach their accolades, let alone surpass them...

The sword came loose.

Nothing kept them from the gravity spell now. The last of the humans rolled and flew towards an end.

Imperatrix had only eyes for the blade in her hand as she careened backwards, unseeing of the large, black hand coming for her.

It failed her…she failed it…

"En garde, daemon!" The warning followed with a surge of electricity hitting the giant.

The pitch black ball of death disappeared, freeing those caught in the spell to fall to the ground. The creature stumbled back still being attacked by the aftershocks.

"Ravus?" Imperatrix lifted her aching head from the gravel.

He'd been the cause of the lightning…not another episode of divine retribution.

"Move, Impera!" He shouted, swinging a completely new and artfully-crafted blade around, gathering energy from his arm and transferring it to the weapon.

She plunged her sword into the daemon's leg, impeding its approach and giving time for the high commander to the finish the charge.

With a mighty swing of violet lightning, the arm of the Iron Giant was severed before it could kill Ravus. Its cries pierced the night, a discordant wail of murderous rage.

"Oh, shut up." He rolled his arm, mildly uncomfortable with the recoil of channeling dark energy.

Push too far and the metal arm would overtake him. Not even his natural born light would be enough to purify it.

"What is that? Is it a new model from Besithia?" Imperatrix assessed the magitek with envy.

"Alba Leonis, a weapon that augments the elemental attacks of my arm." Ravus smirked challengingly at her. "It is on par with Borealis."

"I doubt that." She refuted, competitive side stoked.

"It was gifted to me personally by the emperor."

"You are a an—" Imperatrix staunched her curse. "We have a daemon to defeat."

Giving Ravus a piece of her mind would have to wait.

Losing a limb hadn't deterred their foe. It clumsily brandished the great sword in its non-dominant hand, kicking the amputated arm out the way. The arm dissolved into miasma.

"Since I have the better offense, you will distract it." The high commander didn't wait for the princess's consent, moving out of sight.

"You are pushing your luck, brother-in-law." She mumbled tightly.

Back to one blade, the princess adjusted her form. She took the lead in clashing with the one-armed foe, evading the deathblows and inflicting damage. Ravus joined in with a devastating plunge into the leg Imperatrix previously stabbed.

Once more, the Iron Giant became vulnerable, collapsing to the ground.

"Princess Imperatrix use this!" Erik tossed a collection of a flash grenades wired together over a mini-bomb.

She gaped at it once it was in her hands.

He held up the switch to detonate it, finger hovering over the button. "Please get it in place, Your Highness!"

"This is craziness." The princess ran, setting the incendiary underneath the daemon.

Ravus jumped backwards at discerning what she planned. He dug more into the darkness, charging Alba Leonis for the last time.

Erik commenced a countdown.

The Iron Giant roused in the middle of their preparations.

"Ravus…" Imperatrix appealed to the man still standing in range of the daemon. "Get away from there!"

"Be silent!"

"S-Sir…you're too close." Erik paused in the countdown, eyes widening at the enemies return to vigor.

"Be silent, I said!" The high commander's entire being lit up with magical energy.

The sword became a huge extension of light, massive amounts of sparks bouncing off it. Both the princess and the lieutenant commander were enchanted by the display.

"What're you doing?! Detonate the bomb, Olberg!"

"R-Right! Y-Yes, sir!" Erik automatically obeyed, forgetting that his superior was in the blast range.

The explosion blinded everyone for a minute. When sight became clear, the onlookers weren't sure if it was their imagination, but they all saw the high commander cut into his enemy with ease, showered in currents of energy.

More irradiant than any of his previous battles.

"I slayed an Iron Giant…" Ravus panted, drained and cold.

Tickling at the back of his head made him twitch. An echo of something wicked begged for release…

His mechanical arm hurt more than it should.

"My friend, that was an amazing display!" Imperatrix congratulated the man with a pat on the arm.

The man straightened, tiredly meeting her beaming eyes. An infinitesimal iota of satisfaction beat at Ravus's chest, but he refused to let it show.

He didn't care about her praise and they weren't really friends! He just allowed the princess to categorize them as such.

All he needed was his sister. And maybe...but not really…

Furia...

"We need to gather the men. They will require healing." Moving onto business was an easy escape for the Elder Fleuret.

Small talk was garbage.

"Are you…blushing?" Imperatrix asked, giggling when Ravus denied the accusation, jerking his head to cover more of his face with that ghostly-white hair. "You are! If you were nicer to me, more compliments would fly your way."

"I do not want your flirtations. I am married!" He sneered.

"That was not what I meant and I would never flirt with a typhoon."

"But a jester is fine?"

She instantly knew who was being referenced and a denial was incoming, but the man went on, inconsiderate of her reply.

"It was a strange thing…the princess no longer entertained by her jester. Very strange indeed to see someone so affable intentionally lukewarm."

Gossip shared with him over dinner by Furia. Ravus wasn't sure if he believed it.

Then she arrived with the chancellor, completely at ease in his presence after more than a year of absence and years of arguing with the man's policies. Perhaps his scandalmonger of a wife deserved more credence. She spotted secrets better than anyone and used them to her advantage.

"Gather the injured and bring them behind the barricade." Ravus ordered to an approaching Erik.

Imperatrix stood frozen.

Why had he brought that up? Why did he even know?

She was open with her affections, hugging and kissing people on the cheeks, typical court mannerisms that wouldn't start vile allegations. The way she behaved around the chancellor in public wasn't any different from her mannerisms with the people in her inner circle. As much as it grated her nerves, Imperatrix shelved any amorous actions towards Ardyn when others were present, saving them for when they were alone.

Nothing could stay secret it seemed...

But why did it even have to be hidden at this point?

She was twenty-eight with many failed betrothals. Her station demanded someone of rank, but that just wasn't possible. They'd try to take the throne. Ardyn was the logical choice, having no ambition for a crown, but someone already immersed in their court.

Didn't she say hiding was over?

Open courtship...and something more...

Life would change once she returned home. How would she convince Ardyn though? Getting him on her side would make persuading her father definitively easier.

Her heels filled the silent walk to the men, until something louder stopped her pensive gait.

A loud bang on the steel doors terminated all activity.

Apprehension thick in their chests, eyes focused on the double doors, hoping the noise was a trick of the mind. Another bang shattered hope and the emerging indents in the stalwart defense plunged the people right back into dismay.

The battle wasn't over. The night might yet claim them.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What on earth is that thing doing here?! I didn't call for it." Ardyn grimaced, guilt circulating in the hollow where his humanity was supposed to be.

What was left of it anyway.

An Iron Giant was above their level, but still manageable with tactics. An evolved, more powerful red species…was completely overdoing it.

No one in the base could overcome a Red Giant, not even Noctis's group was at that junction.

Unintentionally, he'd put Imperatrix in mortal danger…and this time he wasn't a hundred-percent sure she could get out of the bind without assistance. Revealing himself this early would be unwise…but what else could he do?

Dammit, dammit, dammit!

As his old friend would tell him, Ardyn had a knack for causing trouble wherever he went. The adrenaline-junky fool would be laughing his ass off if he could see this, and then most likely beat him senseless for endangering their shared treasure.

Ardyn missed him…and he missed her…

Musa and Tellus, the missing two of their trio. Well...only one was missing at this point.

"This is why I don't play with darkness. The results are too unpredictable!" The chancellor groaned and then ducked down as debris went flying over his head, glowering at the stupid Red Giant. "Damned Starscourge. There should be a manual for my condition."

Suffice to say, things weren't looking good for Ravus and Imperatrix. Both were on the last legs of endurance, defending what was left of the legion.

He meant to push the princess, not kill her. This was one of those glaring moments that proved she was better off without him. But hey, he was the Accursed, the greatest sinner of Eos, selfishness was expected on his part.

What did being selfless ever do for him? Completely and utterly screw him over because higher beings could give a fig about the goodness of a human heart.

The kindly sage gig was overrated. If he wanted to have an inamorata again, then Ardyn would. Pity be given for any fool that dared take from him the one person to animate his slumbering soul.

The first tragedy wouldn't be repeated in this lifetime.

"What have we here?" The chancellor dusted off his coat from a swerving car kicking up dust.

Four boys jumped out the Regalia.

"Your Highness what brings you back? Didn't get your fill of ruination?"

"God, do you ever stop being a creep?" Noctis rolled his eyes, mood fringing on animosity despite his compulsion to help.

Listening to Gladiolus and Ignis bitch about how stupid he was for turning around had dissolved the last of his social graces.

They were Niffs and the ultimate enemy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah!

He knew that better than anyone. It was his city demolished, his whole life turned upside down, his dad taken from this life!

"This isn't the place for _naive heroics_. You have no idea what you're walking into." Ardyn warned, theatrics gone for an air of seriousness that only seemed to invigorate the prince more.

"I don't need your concern. I can handle myself." He brushed off the fake caution with a scoff. "Besides, wasn't it you that said all this was _my fault_?"

The destruction of the generator, curtesy of godly smiting via his covenants, allowed the daemons in. Ardyn made it very clear in that bogus-deferential manner of his, that having Ramuh destroy seventy-five percent of the base was highly unnecessary, and not to mention, lazy of him.

Screw him! And that stupid, unfashionable hat that ticked him for no reason! Ugh, the chancellor's entire fashion sense was just gross, grandpa-gross of epic proportions.

The Niffs deserved worse than what he did. This didn't have shit on Insomnia!

"A guilty conscious…how unexpected of you…" Ardyn murmured more to himself than the group, vision momentarily replacing Noctis with a similar, more unpleasant person.

He wanted to wrap his fingers around the traitor's neck!

"Noct, I feel I must insist on a retreat. That is a high level daemon!" Ignis informed the prince after his analysis was finished, pushing his glasses up to cancel out the magic. "It has no weaknesses…"

"It's gotta have one. No daemon is invulnerable." Gladiolus claimed, breaking into a jog behind Noctis, who irresponsibly ignored his advisor. "Find it, Ignis!"

He huffed at their meat-headed proclivity of smashing and slashing through problems. "What would you all do without me?"

"I'll cover you until you figure it out, Iggy." Prompto offered helpfully, spinning his gun to load it.

"Much appreciated."

The last two entered the battle.

"Children must learn things the hard way, I suppose." Ardyn returned to his vigilant post of leaning against the barricade.

He'd only intervene if Imperatrix was in a true bind.

Noctis threw his sword, feeling his body go through the familiar tug of a warp. He appeared in front of the Red Giant, trading a brief glance with the imperial princess as she flipped off its arm, concluding her assailment just as he began his.

"What're you doing here?!" Imperatrix wailed, terror increasing with the appearance of each boy. "I told you to leave!"

Gladiolus ran past her, almost bumping into the princess and toppling her. He looked over his shoulder, growling out. "We don't take orders from Niffs."

She really didn't like him.

Listening to him trash-talk with Ravus had proved exceedingly vexing. Some of the things he said were disgustingly sexist.

Imperatrix was a commander, an earned position, and equally as capable as Ravus! If not more since she faced the toughest soldier in the army, Glauca, and tied their matches, even once wining, something no one in all Niflheim could boast.

Talent wasn't handed to her, she trained hard to be a valuable asset on the field! All those hours of condition and training could have been spent in leisure with her family or lover, but that wasn't the route afforded to her when the princess had to prove her worth to every noble in power looking down on her for being a woman.

She loved her late brothers fiercely and tried hard to never hold an ounce of resentment towards them, but their births made her life needlessly difficult. The succession laws mandated that boys came before girls, regardless of age differences. Those laws forced her to work ten times harder to retain the role of heir apparent.

Then her brothers passed...and she still wasn't worthy in the eyes of the nobility...

How dare Gladiolus insinuate the high commander hid behind a weak princess's skirt! The mammoth couldn't even best Ravus, a man smaller than him, using a saber against a broadsword.

Hell no, how dare that asshole insult her! After all the agony she put herself through to be powerful!

"Don't act all high and mighty when you're bleeding all over the place." Noctis barked, trembling under the force of the daemon's blade.

"Especially since we didn't have to save your imperial asses." Gladiolus added, right beside the prince and endeavoring to keep that humongous, sharp taste of death from them.

Pressure of the opposition caused both of their feet to sink into the ground, cracking it.

"Put your back into it, Noct! I can't do all the work!"

"I'm trying!" He disputed, speech reduced to grunts and groans as his arms began to numb and their defense crumbled, enemy sword tilting precariously closer to him.

"Get those puny arms up!"

Noctis mentally cursed his shield out.

"T-This is an enemy…we cannot d-defeat…" Imperatrix coughed, dizziness thwarting her steps and she tripped, falling to her knees.

Multiples of the fighting prince and shield in different color spectrums took over her sight. A sign of too much blood loss and the head injury getting to the princess.

"Ravus?" She looked around for the blonde.

He'd used too much energy on the first giant and became slower and sloppier, an easy target. Imperatrix took the lead even though she was ill-matched, covering and protecting men against a being triple her size and triple her prowess.

Imperatrix was doomed to fail and she understood that before the first swing of her sword. Victory wasn't her goal, distraction was.

They were all supposed to run…

"R-Ravus…" Imperatrix didn't have the strength to stand.

Coughs racked her body till blood was spat onto the ground as she attempted to move closer to her comrade. The high commander escaped her vision for a moment, replaced with dots.

The giant had broken one of her swords and the largest piece ended up puncturing her hip. The painful combination of the cut on her leg and the repeated hits to her arm made Imperatrix feel numb from one side of the body to the other. Breathing was proving to be difficult so a rib must've cracked. Toping it all off was the throbbing headache from her split eyebrow.

Wrecked didn't even being to describe her state of being.

"Be still, Princess Imperatrix." Proper instincts took over and Ignis carefully helped the woman onto a reclined position.

She barely registered him, blinking uncomprehendingly.

"Dude, nothing is working on this thing!" Prompto whined, firing nonstop at the toughest daemon he'd faced.

Even his heavy artillery machine guns weren't doing more than nicking the giant.

"Prompto watch it!" Noctis yelled after a bullet grazed his ear and then got the daemon in the eye.

"Sorry, sorry! Still getting the hang of this thing."

The prince gave him a minor scowl and then went back to warping all over, cycling through all the weapons to see which one would prove damaging for the Red Giant.

So far…he wasn't having any luck with the normal weapons. A Royal Arm might do the trick…

"I told you, it has no weaknesses! All we can do is hold out till morning or run." Ignis kneeled closer to Imperatrix, prepared to address the concerning hip injury.

The white uniform of hers was drenched red.

"Until dawn…it's almost here…" Imperatrix whispered. "I can…hold…"

"You think too much of yourself." He dismissed her rambling, meticulous hands removing the blade in her side and immediately covering the wound with his jacket to prevent more blood flow. "Further combat is out of the question for you."

She whimpered, recoiling from his aid. "Get off!"

"Stop resisting! You're making it worse!" Ignis's hands hovered unsurely, wanting to respect her space, but also not wanting her to sporadically go into cardiac arrest.

He settled for letting the princess to scoot further away. Imperatrix ignored his worried chastising, unbuttoning her coat.

"W-What're doing?!"

What kind of princess continuously flustered her enemies like this?! Where was her decorum?!

Hi-potion in hand, she chugged the entire thing.

The world stopped spinning, stopped showing her doubles, and returned to a balance of dark colors. All the wounds weren't fixed, but were no longer critical.

Imperatrix could fight.

"Running is not an option. There are still injured people behind the barricade. They would become its prey." The princess removed the suit jacket from her side, offering it back to the owner with a slight amount of bashfulness. "Thank you…for your help…"

"You are welcome." Ignis took the item, lamenting over its ruined state, but knowing it couldn't be avoided.

He wasn't going to watch a woman bleed out in front of him, even if she was of Niflheim.

"The night is almost over." She regarded the changing sky, the ink black lightened to the violets and pinks of twilight.

Ravus had defended them and now he needed to be protected. Passed out among the wreckage with his mechanical arm sparkling, he was hers to safeguard.

No way would she allow him or anyone else to die!

"Princess Imperatrix stop!" Ignis hastily finished withdrawing all the items out of his coat pockets and transferred the curatives to his pants pockets, leaving the magic flask betweens his fingers for immediate use.

"Not now, not ever!"

He tsked, on her heels in a matter of seconds and tossing a flask with a shout of warning. The Red Giant became sucked up in a blizzard and the area became a snowfield.

Were all royals such neurotic hard-heads? Unheeding of advisors?

"Guess we've got a princess joining our party." Prompto shivered, sneezing right on cue with his gun going off and missing the mark.

"Our odds still suck though." Noctis sulked, puffing out breaths as the Royal Arm literally sucked the life out of him. "Dammit, Iggy. It's freaking cold now!"

"We must make do with them." Imperatrix kicked a stray flash grenade at the daemon, covering the weakened prince.

He shook his head free of the thick snow on top of his head, regretting it as some got inside his coat to the neck. "Cold, cold!"

"My life these past eleven years." The princess fussed, zipping through the snow-covered field as if it were Gralean land.

Harsh climates weren't an obstacle for her.

"Of course she's okay in the cold. The ice princess." Noctis rolled his eyes, entering a warp to save himself the embarrassment of slipping on ice or sinking into snow.

He'd seen Gladiolus accidentally sink into the snow from his heavy weight and Ignis saved him from being crushed in a death-grip.

Nope, nope. He wasn't going to get an anticlimactic end.

All four Lucians fought alongside the imperial in an icy wonderland, issues shelved for the singular purpose of outlasting the Red Giant. When it was humans versus daemons, differences could be put on hold.

Pure adrenaline and the will to survive kept them all fighting at one-hundred percent. None would accept death that day.

Struggles end finally came with the first ray of gold.

The daemon bellowed its first cry of agony, wildly flailing at the sting of sunrise's touch. As the world shifted from night to daylight, creatures of darkness were banished back to their dwellings.

Dissolving black mist lifted the spirts of those on the edge of desperation. The closing wail of the Red Giant and its burst into particles earned collective sighs of relief.

They survived an encounter with one of the most dangerous daemons!

"Finally! T-That was h-horrible." Noctis slumped, struggling to hold up an unstable Prompto. "W-Worst battle ever…"

"I-I'm dead…" The gunner went down, taking the prince with him. "Ah, gross man! You're all wet and sticky! Is it sweat or the snow?!"

"Don't know, don't care." Noctis was out of his mind exhausted, giving no effort to move off his friend.

"Noct, sleeping here is not advisable." Ignis looked down on his liege, vibrating with impatience and aggravation.

His hair lost all its styling and was messily framing his face. Added on to that, his suit was torn and dirty, beyond saving by dry-cleaning. For a perfectionist like him, this state of appearance was highly unacceptable, doubly so since foreign royalty was witness to it.

Another Crownsguard Fatigue spoiled.

"I'm dead." The prince reiterated Prompto's sentiment, closing his eyes to the harsh sunlight that seconds ago he'd been thrilled to see. "I hate being up in the morning."

The thrill faded fast.

"Quit whining and get up. We're all tired." Gladiolus got ahold of the blunette's shirt, manually lifting the boy off Prompto.

Expecting the prince of naps to obey a sensible request proved useless. The shield's chest rumbled with disapproval.

When would this kid ever get it together?

"Bug off, Gladio."

"Noct, you're being a real brat and it's getting on my last nerve."

"Then take a hike."

The crabby pout took the brunnette back to the days where he hated Noctis's guts.

"Hey!" The prince complained, hand tugging on the bigger one balling up his shirt.

"Enough! Do not behave like children when you are adults!" Ignis separated the two before things really got physical.

Gladiolus took his duties as the crown's shield seriously and when something or someone was threatening those responsibilities, he didn't react logically. They were still in enemy territory so the man's frustration was understandable, but he needed to learn to control his temper.

"What is she doing?" Gladiolus crossed his arms, wild mood zeroing in on the princess instead.

He'd failed too many times as a shield during their infiltration, losing to Ravus and losing to the daemon. He wouldn't fail again.

Imperatrix walked on, paying no heed to the boys. She sat on her knees, laying down the sword blackened with blood and retrieving the last curative from inside her coat.

Gently, the princess cradled Ravus in her arms, tilting his head to administer the hi-potion. He greedily drank the entirety of it, gasping for breath once done.

"I-Imperatrix?" The high commander uttered after she laid him on her lap.

"It is I. You are not dreaming, my friend."

"H-How? I could not…" He fluttered his eyes, wincing from sunlight entering his eyes and not moonlight.

She hesitated for fear of riling him up, but replied honestly. "Prince Noctis and his retinue helped hold off the daemon."

The mention of his enemy stirred Ravus into full awareness better than coffee might have. The man jolted up, mismatched eyes casting about for the dark-haired boy.

"You!" He spat after locating his target.

All four of the young males accelerated his temper into a range of frequencies. Anger, shame, and disgust exploded like never before inside him.

They came to his aid?! Disgraceful! Unacceptable!

He wouldn't accept it!

What was the point of tarnishing himself with the magitek arm if he couldn't be stronger than Noctis?! Ravus knowingly infused his body with a daemon all to gain the power he was denied by the ring. He didn't desecrate himself for no damn reason!

In tune with his fury, his lieutenant and a few other soldiers ran into the area, protectively arranged around their superiors with guns raised at the Lucians.

They wouldn't be able to do much, considering they were all in varying states of damaged, but if ordered, the men would lay down their lives for the two that fought for them.

"This is why you should've gotten your lazy ass up." Gladiolus snapped at Noctis.

He was done.

His great sword was just gonna boomerang around the imperials and take them out like dominoes. Unappreciative bastards deserved it and his father would have retribution with every fallen foe.

"You should've just carried me then. You've got the muscles for it." The prince denied responsibility, still on the ground, but at least sitting up to summon the engine blade as an omen of what would happen if the imperials made the wrong move.

"Will you two stop it?!" Ignis hissed, subtly palming a flask behind his back.

Dropping it would release the cure spell.

All the four wanted at this point was to drive off to the nearest haven and crash in their tent. How had a simple infiltrate and retrieve mission gotten so complicated?

"Arrest them." Ravus announced.

"Yes sir." Erik gave the signal for an advance.

"Have you no honor? They saved us and you would chain them?" Imperatrix said in French to save the man the indignity of her questioning him in front of the men.

"I will not let them leave." The high commander couldn't stand the thought of Noctis holding one over him.

The shit lost to him! He was the victor!

Destiny…

Destiny could be changed if Ravus could defeat the Chosen King. His sister wouldn't have to die for that leech. That was all that mattered!

"Personal grievances do not supersede debts. We owe him!" The princess squeezed Ravus's arm. "We must let them go."

"I cannot."

"Then…you are a dishonorable coward…"

The absence of her hand and the resigned disappointment of Imperatrix unnerved the elder Fleuret. He found himself suffering an unrecognizable pitfall in his stomach.

"Stop!" Ravus yelled in Latin.

"High Commander?" Erik lowered his gun and the others followed.

"Leave them be."

The man's blue eyes flickered unsurely between his superior and the Lucians, but he and the men retreated obediently once the platinum-blonde showed no signs of changing his mind again. The lieutenant hid his relief at not having to fight the magical group by tugging his military hat further over his face.

"Oh, it was so tense! I didn't know how things would go." Ardyn strolled on stage, stopping between the two sides.

The high commander scoffed, his departure was swift with the interference of the chancellor. Erik followed, but left the others to guard the princess.

"Once more if I may." Ardyn smiled sardonically, feeding off the exasperation of his audience. "A hand, Highness? I've more than proven to be helpful."

"This guy doesn't quit." Noctis rubbed his eyes, dismissing the sword and accepting a hand from Ignis to stand.

Imperatrix approached the group, raising a hand at the sound of multiple footsteps behind her. The soldiers stayed back.

"Chancellor Izunia shall escort you all to the Regalia." She proposed once beside the red-head.

"It'd be my pleasure, Princess." Ardyn concurred, ruefully grinning at the boys. "We've become such good acquaintances."

"We don't need—" Noctis lost the ability to speak at Imperatrix bowing her head.

"You have my utmost gratitude for your assistance, Prince Noctis."

He blushed at her earnest recognition, rustling his hair to play it off. How often did people actually thank him for things without a side comment to basically nullify the appreciation?

"I-It w-was nothing." The prince stuttered unintelligibly.

Someone stab him. Weren't imperials supposed to be super cocky? Did the princess have to destroy that stereotype and put him on the spot like this?

"Manners, Your Highness." Ignis reminded, a review on protocol developing in the back of his mind.

Nobles of Insomnia were used to Noctis's informal, borderline unrefined decorum, but they were out in the real world now. The young heir would have to represent himself better from now on.

"You're welcome!" The blunette tried again at the behest of his advisor.

The declaration came off a little too aggressively from his mortification. Ignis sighed while Gladiolus smirked and Prompto smiled awkwardly.

A female was thanking him and his "mom" was hounding him. Too much to process at the crack of dawn on his drained mind. Noctis didn't feel as shamed as he should for the outburst.

Imperatrix twitched. Not knowing the boy well, she couldn't tell if the eruption was a reminder of all that stood between them, or an abashed juvenile youth at work.

"This is not what I wanted…" She gazed mournfully at the prince and the empty wasteland behind him.

Talking just wasn't in their nature it appeared. Every meeting of humans escalated into a disagreement. Violence was in their nature, it was the unified language every mortal learned.

How sad and bleak…

"I hope we will next meet under better circumstances."

"Why would you want to?" The prince asked.

She smiled wanly, comparing the son to the father, hoping the former wouldn't become someone permanently opposite to her. "To fulfill a promise of peace."

Imperatrix left the Lucians in the hands of Ardyn, joining the rest of her group. She reclined on the wall next to the high commander. He didn't acknowledge her.

"Want to hear something funny?" The princess could feel all her energy dwindling, immense pain restored to control from the conclusion of "fight or flight".

"What, Impera?" The usual bite was gone.

"I went out drinking yester—the day before yesterday." She corrected herself since the sun in the sky precluded another adventure, a stream of millions of tomorrows. "I was hungover during this entire episode."

The absurdity stole into his chest and the elder Fleuret wheezed out an unbelieving laugh.

Everyone just had to slap him in the face. His victories were short-lived.

Was he or was he not stronger than both Imperatrix and Noctis?!

How much more would it take for him to reach a level of strength to make a difference? How much more would he need to push himself?

Love…

All that ridiculous jabbering Imperatrix did made it sound like something divinely wonderful. It didn't feel that way to him. Love was a curse, the worst curse of all. The pain that came from it was more devastatingly than any wound from a weapon.

The most unescapable pain in the world was a broken heart. If Ravus didn't improve himself, that was what waited for him.

He would lose the last piece of his family.

"Worst hangover…ever. I shall not be drinking for a long while." Imperatrix picked at her coat.

The blood stains weren't going to come out. Today was the entire outfits last debut.

"And Luna? Still including her in your debauchery?"

"She handled herself better this time. Hard-headed as her brother, but she learns."

"No, she does not…"

How many times did he tell her not to overuse her gifts and she did it anyway? Giving away bits of her soul every time she healed a Starscourge victim?

The covenants were the nails in the coffin. Each one robbed her more than healing thousands of people. She would become a soulless husk, fading into aether.

Lunafreya wasn't blessed by the Astrals, she was cursed.

"Princess Imperatrix, High Commander Fleuret, the medics have requested you two have an examination." Erik gestured to a separate tent set up for them.

They both shared a glance, noting how messy the other was. Neither protested the appeal, submitting themselves to medical officers.

The princess all but collapsed onto the pallet, mindlessly doing as instructed. Her mind went hazy at some point and she couldn't remember when the checkup ended.

One moment she was being undressed by a female and helped into a spare uniform behind a curtain. The next moment, she was asleep on the pallet, cozy beneath a warm, heavy coat and submerged in a familiar scent that made her insides flip pleasantly.

"Ardyn?" Imperatrix looked in the direction of the fingers stroking over her face, namely on the wrappings.

"Yes, my dearest." He cooed affectionately. "You did so well."

The opening in the tent flap cast him in an orange glow. His hair truly looked the part of flickering flames and she wanted to tangle her finger in it, but she couldn't find the energy to move.

"You were right…" The princess gave up on movement, settling for sleepily peering at Ardyn, who'd never looked so serene before…like he was meant to be covered in light.

"Right about what?"

"I didn't like this surprise."

The chancellor chuckled weakly, culpable for putting her in this condition. He didn't expect the idiot to blow up the place. That wasn't what he meant at all when wished for entrainment!

"Magic blazing" didn't mean magic blast the size of a crater! Thank you Ramuh, you shriveled, old thundercun...

"I promise to make this up to you, Musa." Ardyn moved his eyes from the bandages inciting his mind to his vulgarities.

Most the supplies had been lost and what was left got used throughout the night. Ravus and Imperatrix were lucky to get potions, though as many as they were given basically drugged them. In the princess's case, she'd also needed a blood transfusion and was extra loopy.

Evident by the lewd scrutiny she was gracing him with. "Indeed you will, Caesar."

"Oh? That's what you want?"

"Yes." She nodded as seriously as she could while doped up, which wasn't much and tired her out quickly. "And Nyx too."

He snorted with the first burst of hilarity and then muffled the rest of his laughter. The chancellor checked to see if Ravus was still out of commission.

"Both of us, at the same time? You want to experience your first _ménage à trois_?" He clarified, visualizing a future scenario and becoming excited for the prospect.

"My very own harem." Her hum sparked a delicious thrum in him.

This was why he loved this woman. Never dull.

Ardyn leaned near Imperatrix's ear. "Try him out first and then we can talk about breaking him in."

"Furia was half-right."

The man became confused at the abrupt veer of conversation. "I don't follow…"

"You're a greedy sampler of both." The princess smirked brazenly. "Fine. I'll share my bounty with you."

She then promptly dozed off. The chancellor tucked his coat in more securely around her, rolling from his side to his back afterwards.

"We tease in equal measures, my dear. I highly doubt you'll remember this tantalizing conversation." He dug out his phone from his coat, leisurely twirling Imperatrix's wavy hair around a finger as the device rung.

" _Are you bringing Impera back or do I need to retrieve her?"_ Nebula got right to the point.

"Bring the ship and tell Lady Lunafreya her healing abilities will be needed upon arrival."

" _How bad is she? I can just buy an elixir…maybe even a hi-elixir if I look hard enough."_

"You really don't like her." Ardyn teased.

The gunman would rather spend thousands of gil than utilize a free source. How uneconomical of him.

" _She makes my skin crawl with all that light magic."_

"Believe me, I know. But that knee-jerk odium has to be set aside." The red head glanced at the sleeping princess. "Impera will pitch a fit if I have her healed, but not the rest of the injured troopers. Let the oracle get in some training."

" _Understood."_

"Oh, and…we'll have to pick someone else up too."

That information got a sigh out of Nebula.

"Don't worry, it's only Izzy."

" _I'm doing the opposite. Two siblings in the same space as me is a nightmare."_

"You're being tortured for a good cause, Nebula the Ace."

Imperatrix needed her equipment if she was ever going to stand a chance for what was coming. He wouldn't leave her defenseless when the sun went dark.

Fantasy would become reality. Ardyn was molding her into an empress.

He was a certified kingmaker for Noctis and Imperatrix. One would become the Chosen King and the other the Empress of the World. His greatest masterpieces.


	18. Chapter 18 (Ardyn & Cor AO3 Content)

This is the longest chapter I have ever written before. If the story feels like it's dragging then it's because I'm writing it less like a video game and more like a book. The story is more character-driven than anything because I found the characters to be the most interesting aspect of XV, not exactly the game itself.

Mature content posted on AO3.

 **Latin**

 **Die Defunctorum** \- Day of the dead. The real holiday celebrated by Spanish countries, but called Dia de Muertos.

 **Ante Meridiem** \- Before Midday. What A.M. actually stands for, but most people don't know.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Wakey, wakey, Shitty Princess of the empire which the sun never sets!" Yelled Tempesta, punctuating the order with a solid kick to the bundled-up woman, thereby sending her tumbling off the bed.

An asshole move to never be used on someone ingrained with paranoia from numerous battles.

"What's going on?!" Imperatrix bolted off the floor, wildly assessing the situation for danger, though her entanglement with covers caused her to faceplant with the floor.

Tempesta roared with laughter, bending over to cover her aching abdominal muscles.

The princess scowled at the masked clown, very much wanting to kick out the blonde's legs and put the girl in a chokehold like she enjoyed doing to others. Give the brat a taste of her own medicine.

If anybody understood the sanctity of rest, it was the two Besithias. Why did Tempesta rudely wake her up?!

"You've been clonked out for two days. Get up already." She explained hoarsely once her lungs gave out from laughing too much. "Some of us want to eat."

"Eat? I'm…on Setzer? How?" Imperatrix crawled onto the bed, wriggling out of the mess and rolling onto her back. "Where's Ardyn?"

Last she was awake, the chancellor hovered over her in a medical tent, whispering scandalous temptations. Or was she the one offering enticement? It was all a little fuzzy.

"Dandy's on the ship with everybody else. Damn, it's gotten crowed in here."

"Crowded?"

"Yeah, we got more losers thanks to you." Tempesta tugged on the princess's pajama pants. "Will you go get dressed so I can eat already? First meal of the day is important!"

Imperatrix made a noise of displeasure, body moving on autopilot to retrieve a more formal sirwal and tunic for the unknown guests. Judging by her retainer's surprisingly presentable mix of full-length pants and a halter top, the unknown guests must be ones they needed to stand on ceremony with.

How inconvenient, making her spruce up like she was living in the Domus Aurea. This was an airship, the princess was allowed to be lazy!

Once in the shower, she couldn't detect any injuries on her body, not even the ones left unchecked by the potion. Everything felt perfectly fine in her awakened state, better even with a fleck of something magical resting on her person.

Light and free as a feather in the wind, a completely unnatural recovery possible only by one little oracle.

"Did Lunafreya heal me?" Imperatrix sat on the bed with Tempesta, braiding her long, damp hair.

"Yup. Shook the shit out of me." She bobbed her head, mask rattling from the movement. "Not just you either, Ravus and the other soldiers all were healed with one song."

"She is getting stronger…"

Lunafreya was a good girl at heart, frosty, but sweet. Thinking that she would leave people to suffer just because they were imperial was a little too heartless. The girl gave help where it was needed, as she'd been raised to do by her family and the church of Tenebrae.

A Holy Mother withholding her healers touch would be blasphemous.

"Guess so…"

Fidgeting with her leg kicking into the cushions to make deep dents, Tempesta chucked off her mask. The odd faces she was making, sharp teeth chewing into her lip and furrowed eyebrows, clued in the princess to the fist fighter's troubled mind.

"I thought you were in a hurry to eat? Something else weighs on you?"

She growled, slamming the cat helmet into the bed. "You got me, you got me! I lied."

Liquor sounded amazing, but Nebula confiscated the bottles and her flask so there wouldn't be any embarrassing shenanigans from Tempesta while company was aboard.

Man, screw reputations! Why did people care?!

"I wanted to kick your ass for almost dying."

Imperatrix giggled sheepishly, tensing for the blow but it never came. Regarding the blonde, the princess folded her legs into lotus when the younger Besithia still didn't engage her.

"We got other problems too, but before you go pity-party, gooey-bug on everybody, I get your ear first. Seniority and all, ya know?"

"What do you mean? I was gone a day, that is too soon for trouble to follow."

"I didn't do anything. Nyx is the troublemaker!" She immediately sold out the glaive for his own benefit. "But like I said, _don't get me off track_!"

The princess closed her mouth, letting Tempesta gather her thoughts. Her blue eyes glazed over, becoming uncharacteristically dull and she plopped onto the bed at Imperatrix's beckoning.

"I found Cor…" She admitted tonelessly.

The result of her hunt wasn't what the fist fighter wanted…but it was inevitable.

" _Why do you bother? You lose every time." The marshal sighed at losing the fish, pulling in the line._

" _Screw you, bastard prick! All you had to do was take the ass-kicking!" The younger Besithia screamed, scaring away all the fish and splashing lake water in the direction of the aged brunette eyeballing her with faint amusement._

 _Cor dodged her lunge at the last second and she went belly-up into the water. Her eyes were prickling from the ruined mascara and she likely looked like a sea witch or a drowned cat._

 _Tempesta knew adding some touch-ups on her face wouldn't count for anything. She didn't even know why she bothered with makeup, nobody ever saw it with the damn helmet on majority of the time. Wasn't like Cor appreciated it either. He always mouthed off about her excessive augmentation of her already too vivid eyes._

 _Stupid, stupid! It annoyed the shit out of her that she unconsciously tried to impress him!_

 _The old shit should be grateful a young, hot thing like her looked his forty-five year-old direction. Never mind all the other obvious bull hanging between them that made it impossible for her not to take an interest in him._

 _Lucky bastard looked good, perfect bang material that she didn't have to show the ropes to like all the other losers in Gralea. Another plus was him not being too adventurous like the addicts in Persia._

 _Holy cow, it'd been orgy galore in the Shah's palace and they were doing weird stuff that blew even her mind! Her! A proud connoisseur_ _of sexual activity!_

 _And people talked shit about the emperor's licentious younger days! The old man's history and all the princess's histories put together wouldn't be shit compared to the things going on in Ismail's harem. Their eastern cousins were deviants!_

 _Or, well...Imperatrix's cousins..._

 _Weren't they all basically related though? Nebula tried to grind a history lesson into her head, but the only thing that stuck was that Tellus was a savant in producing heirs. Guy was practically the father of the nation. Almost every noble family tree led back to him!_

 _She had to see her princess do the same. It would be epic!_

" _I guess we'll be starving. There went dinner." Cor rolled up the equipment, stuck his leg in the water, and kicked a flood of water right back at the blonde. "You're lucky. If you'd gotten my fatigues wet, retribution would've been severe."_

 _The marshal stood, soggy t-shirt and sweats weighing him down. They leaked water with every step from the dock to the camp site._

 _He didn't expect it to hurt so much…_

 _Looking at Tempesta ached more than poison and every other ailment. His hands wouldn't stop shaking, the force of his grip would break another fishing rod and now…_

 _There'd be no Regis or Clarus to buy him replacements._

 _Those idiots sucked at fishing and he had better things to do with his time, but it was them forcing a stubborn adolescent to pick up something other than a blade that kept Cor maintaining the hobby to this day. Since the fall…seafood didn't taste the same…_

 _Calling her to meet him had been a mistake, but it was time. He couldn't keep up this portion of his life anymore._

 _In or out, it would be decided._

" _Here, punk." The fist fighter lobbed a couple of flopping fishes at the immortal, cracking up when they popped him on the face like she planned, instead of him dodging or catching them. "Who's the boss now, huh? You didn't get squat!"_

 _Cor simply picked up a pail from behind his chair and put it out where she could see. Inside were numerous amphibians bigger than what Tempesta caught._

 _Her jaw dropped for a second before her face swelled red insanely fast. A string of expletives exploded out that would've made the average person go shades of the rainbow from their vulgarity._

 _Too used to it, the marshal let the female vent, all of it going in one ear and out the other. He began detaching the soaked clothes and that got the blonde to quiet down._

" _Are you going to stay in those?" Cor asked in the lull, shaking out the water droplets matting up his hair and ringing out his shirt._

 _The sun was still out for a few hours, their clothes could air dry. Afterwards he'd light a fire and arrange them around it._

 _He possessed spare outfits, but Tempesta most likely only had the scanty shorts and crop-top she was wearing. She was irresponsible like that, or some might say cunning because the thief often swiped his things. Since he wasn't spiteful like her, the marshal let the blonde get away with it._

" _I don't know. Are you going to kill me or do something else once I'm naked?" The fist fighter's eyes gleamed wickedly, ogling the battle-hardened body of Cor the Immortal._

 _She made a show of slowly stripping herself as he seemed lost for words, squeezing the twisted shirt far more than necessary and making an effort not to look at her. Of course the sound of her jacket squishing on the ground made those ears twitch and unbidden, his gaze rose._

 _With how skin tight and revealing her outfit was, thick, sunshine-hair clinging to her body, and the overly-saturated quality of dangerous allure to her, it didn't take much for the imperial woman to get a physical response from the marshal._

 _Cor should've looked away, resisted temptation…but he couldn't._

 _Nude and confident, there wasn't an ounce of shame in Tempesta's bones. She smirked, hands on her hips and head tilted in assumed victory._

 _And why wouldn't she grin as the cat eating the canary?_

 _The younger Besithia might always lose their fights, but ultimately the fist fighter won the war of attraction and that was unacceptable. If anyone were to ever find out about Cor's involvement with a high-ranked Niff, exile or execution would've been his reward and he wouldn't fight the decision._

 _Those lingering fears used to drag on his conscious and there were times facing the king was impossible. More impossible than that, was remembering the child Cor absconded with and left in the care of capable hands out of guilt. He changed Prompto's life...and could've changed another's..._

 _Looking at Tempesta was so damn difficult!_

" _Well?! Are you a lion or a lamb?!" The younger Besithia stomped her foot impatiently at the unresponsiveness of her target._

 _Usually the marshal jumped her bones the minute her clothes were off._

" _No, Tempesta…" Cor decided to the disappointment of his body._

 _She represented a lion more than he did with that wild mane and toothy grin._

" _No?" The fist fighter repeated in confusion, shoulders sinking and chest constricting painfully._

 _Rejected? Since when?_

 _Cor didn't refuse her..._

 _He dared not deny her after she hunted him down in retaliation for their first drunken tumble. She'd been younger, stupider, and completely caught off guard by his moodiness with bottles of alcohol in him. The minute he started eyeing her with interest in place of irritation, she snapped on the new opportunity, letting him lead her into his room and further grafting his importance into her conscious._

 _The asshole tried to play the "it was a mistake" card the next time she saw him because of course the following morning he left her alone in the hotel room without a word. Cor obtained a broken nose for it and a cold dose of reality that neither were prepared for._

 _After that fiasco they were a messy version of frenemies with benefits._

 _Sometimes they actually fought. Cor demonstrated why he survived so many battles and served multiple kings as a close confidant. Each defeat served to embitter Tempesta and she vowed to get better for the next round._

 _One day she would defeat the immortal._

 _Sometimes they pretended they weren't vicious enemies long enough to pop bottles, leading to very destructive, bloody, hate-sex. Those encounters did wonders for her temper. The world wasn't so loud and ugly when she was drunk on pleasure and booze._

 _Being surrounded by so many couples could be extremely gut-wrenching. Nebula was such a boring, unfeeling prick that she wondered how the hell Aranea put up with him, but those two didn't annoy her nearly as much as sappy, romantic, screw-birds, Imperatrix and Ardyn did. Thank the gods Furia didn't live in Gralea anymore after her marriage to Ravus! That annoying whore loved playing score with her and she only won because Tempesta tended to actually work, unlike that lustful, lazy, loser of a princess. Even Euphemia had a nice fiancé and the girl was sixteen!_

 _All of them could get bent!_

 _Why the hell was it so hard for her to have something nice?! It wasn't fair!_

" _Here, Tempesta." Cor dropped a spare blanket over the stunned woman, tensing at the ferocious glare she sent him in return. "Would you rather freeze?"_

" _Dipshit Lucians don't know anything about the cold." The blonde hissed, bolting away to sit in front of the fire._

 _The blonde hated havens! Why the hell had she come to shitstain Maidenwater for this wretch of a man?! Why was she torturing herself?!_

" _Try living in Gralea, the actual coldest place in Eos. Fellfin, Daneinar, and Kazimir are also good places to freeze your balls off in. Then you can bitch to me about being cold."_

" _I've been to most those places, have you forgotten?" Cor sunk into his chair, scratching at the bottom of his chin where stubble was growing in._

 _Being in only his briefs with a pestering erection due to Tempesta childishly leaving the front of the blanket wide-open to taunt him wasn't helping maters._

" _I haven't. I remember with perfect clarity how you get off on breaking into Besithia facilities." She pointed disrespectfully at him, further loosening the cover. "Stealing shit you're not supposed to! Do your cronies know you're a glorified kidnapper?"_

 _Cor balled up his fist, blood boiling from the verbal assault and the visual assault on his eyes. Focusing on the freckles throughout her body was better than gaping like an idiot at her smooth skin and pert..._

 _Stop it!_

" _You like leaving kids behind too. Man, you've got wrecking kid's lives down to an art!"_

" _Tempesta!" The chair got knocked back in his frustration as he stood up, painfully aware of how riled he was._

" _What? What?! I'm not saying anything new!" She met him in a standoff, but lack of height on her part dimmed some of her intimidation factor. "You don't want to bang. You don't want to fight. Why the hell am I here, Cor?!"_

" _Because I—"_

 _The loud growling of a stomach cut the hazardous tension. Inhaling and exhaling at length through his nose, the marshal stepped back, jaw moving irregularly as he refrained from laughing._

" _Say something, I dare you!" The fist fighter yelled, still on the wavelength of righteous indignation and wanting an outlet._

 _Rather above the immaturity, Cor turned away, beginning the preparation of their dinner. Cleaning and gutting food for some reason sickened Tempesta so he'd be responsible for most the tasks. She could kill monsters or soldiers in battle, but killing animals crossed a line for some reason._

 _What a piece of work. With her monstrous appetite for all things meat, her tepidness for fauna didn't make sense._

" _Cooking bites! Why can't there be fast-food everywhere? I could go for a burger." The blonde whined, mood completely shifted from the earlier fuse of carnage and more in line with a restless teenager grappling with a bottomless stomach._

 _She stirred the boiling rice mixed with vegetables over the fire, gagging dramatically._

 _"God, this is omnivore food. I'm a carnivore, Cor!"_

" _Don't complain. A balanced diet is important." He uttered mechanically, the admonishment often used on a prince with a picky palette._

" _Loser samurai bitching me out." She snarked, foot hooking behind her leg to scratch._

 _His diet was almost as ridiculous as Imperatrix's. Weak rice, poultry seafood, and vegetables. Who was Cor trying to fool? All the idiot needed was some chopsticks to be a knockoff Yasugi._

 _Ugh, dainty little meals favored by those people was a crime! Poor Euphemia, stuck with two stick-starved retainers! Those chicks probably had the kid starving since the mother didn't give a damn about her second child and they had to play "parent" for the airhead._

 _Wait a second…one of them was from Yasu and the other was from Guang Guo. The two island countries had different cultures…_

 _At least she thought so…_

 _Whatever! It wasn't her fault they both looked similar and things got confusing between them._

" _I don't understand how you eat so terribly and remain small." Cor confiscated the ladle from Tempesta, using it to serve the rice onto two plates._

 _"Trade secret. Don't question the woman's mystique."_

 _More was put on the fist fighter's, one as punishment because her negligence almost lead to charred sides items, and two, because despite her complaining, the blonde would scarf down twice as much as Cor ate._

 _He never knew watching a woman eat would do it for him, but Tempesta managed it._

 _Right now, with her in front of him eating her food with a mixture of glee for the fish and disgust for the carrots, the marshal felt…tranquil. Maybe it had to with her body finally being covered an no longer heating his blood. She did it in retaliation for him piling healthy provisions on her plate, but whatever, then end mattered, not the why or how._

 _Maybe…this was the calm before the storm._

 _Her whining and exaggerated revulsion reminded Cor of the prince. The cup of water in his hand became malformed._

" _Ahhh, the sun's gone down. Wonder if daemons are gonna show up?" The younger Besithia exhaled loudly, stomach satisfied._

" _They don't appear here and even if they did, the runes would keep them out."_

" _Yeah, those things..." She set the utensils down, meandering over to the edge of the haven._

 _They lit up more noticeably at her approach. The marshal wearily observed Tempesta's actions._

" _I hate listening to all their bullshit. Some of them are so noisy." Her foot stomped on the foreign markings she didn't understand. "Is it too much to ask for silence in the world?!"_

" _Stop messing with the runes!" Cor jumped up at the sound of burning flesh._

" _What do you care? Don't you want me to burn?"_

 _The sound grew outside and inside her head. Between the searing skin and howling, common sense became muddled. Not that Tempesta could claim to have the common sense of an average person._

" _Goddammit, stop it!"_

 _The beast roared louder, overwhelming her hearing._

" _Stop it!"_

 _The darkness was all around now. There was no escaping the encampment, the runes wouldn't allow it. Havens kept daemons out, but the original makers couldn't have foreseen a creature of the night managing to get within the circle._

 _Brilliance or egotism? Verstael Besithia treaded a thin line all his life. He created humans hosting daemons, with all of the terrible strength, fortified bodies, heightened healing, and immune to the Starscourge sickness. Truly his children were monsters._

 _Madness would claim them all in the end if a blade didn't. An inhuman entity defiling their souls by the day, none of them had a chance._

" _Stop, just stop!" Cor yanked Tempesta, refusing to acknowledge the juxtaposing pale flesh of her leg and the black coloring moving up from the foot._

 _The marshal thought he was ready._

 _Frenzied blue eyes lighting with a golden hue, tears threatening to leak, bared fangs, and wailing. He wasn't ready for any of it._

" _What do you want?!" She screeched with a crescendo of something unnatural, punching Cor in the gut._

" _For one, I want to quit hurting yourself!" He wheezed out after straightening to hold her hands up in example._

 _Not only had the knucklehead intentionally injured her foot by stepping on a light-enchantment, she'd burned her hands by pushing against the physical barrier. Did Tempesta want to get away from him that badly that she'd mutilate herself?!_

 _The skin was already healing, albeit slowly. A regular injury would've been gone before anyone noticed, but magical ones took longer for her to heal from, particularly light-based ones._

" _It's not 'hurting myself' if the shit's gonna heal, dumbass." The fist fighter rolled her eyes, heaving out her frustration with his avoidant behavior. "And you still didn't answer my question, Immortal Dipshit."_

 _Cor clicked his tongue. The vulgarity would never end with her._

" _Well? Come on, say something!"_

 _He pulled her flush against his chest, smashing his lips against hers to shut the loudmouth up._

 _Heavy questions and tantrums were no longer on the marshal's agenda. The second option she suggested was preferable to facing the hard truth of their situation._

 _Once more...one more slip was acceptable when he knew it would be the last._

 _At daybreak the two were clothed in their respective uniforms, black Crownsguard Fatigues and white imperial jumpsuit._

 _Tempesta shuffled around, helmet rolling from hand to hand as she impassively looked to Cor. "Are you gonna finally man-up and say what you've been dying to gush out? I got things to do, man."_

 _He fastened his katana to his belt, somewhat placated by the chime of the bell attachment. A deep breath in and the marshal gripped the handle._

 _It was time._

" _You need to make a choice. The empire destroyed Insomnia, my home." Cor spoke as evenly as he could while looking in the distance where the crown city was no more. "Stay…and I'll take care of you, Tempesta. Leave…and you'll be the enemy that I one day take down."_

 _The fist fighter sighed, mumbling noiselessly. "Finally."_

 _Her blank expression morphed to harshness, to which the brunette looked away. He could never stand to gaze upon her too long, too many reminders in her pretty, freckled face._

 _He already knew what the answer was going to be from the beginning, hence his charade of "house". She shouldn't have participated in the game, but Tempesta learned how to torture herself from Imperatrix. Sticking it out for someone didn't always work out._

 _Talk about doomed from the start._

" _Why the hell would I stay with you?"_

" _You're not safe—"_

" _Oh, I'll be safer around a bunch of Lucian pricks?!" The younger Besithia blew up, shoving the marshal and wishing for him to feel a margin of the crushing disappointment she felt. "Trade my reliable princess for your shitty prince?! You think he'd be cool with an actual daemon around? Does he know about the shit-stain you stole?! He have any episodes?!"_

 _The immortal being jerked around and punched by a woman half his size would be unconceivable to anyone that knew him. Yet, that was what was happening._

 _Cor couldn't bring himself to stop Tempesta when she went on one of these pitiful rants, fists and tears betraying every hateful word she spewed out._

" _What makes you think I could go with you?!" The fist fighter's voice pitched, followed by the tight squeezing of her chest that left her breathless and too weak to assault the marshal anymore. "I'd never pick you over Impera…no way..."_

 _He supported her weight as she slumped forward, head almost touching his chest. The admission stung, but it was understandable and he had no right to be upset about it. Tempesta had been a second choice for him in a lot of instances. His responsibilities wouldn't allow him to put her first._

" _Tempesta…I need you…" The marshal struggled to keep himself in check, tightening his grip on arms more fragile and smaller than his. "You have to come with me. I can't be responsible for your death."_

 _Why hadn't he finished the first declaration? More appropriate words were sitting in the back of his head, but Cor couldn't voice them. All his combat and life expertise and the famed Immortal failed at simple communication?_

 _If this was to be the last instance of them meeting on peaceful terms, then he wanted to say those binding words to her. She deserved at least that after everything._

" _Shut up! I don't want to hear that!" She jostled him off, leveling an accusatory finger at the man. "It's your fault I turned into a monster! And it's your fault I lost our goddam child!"_

 _The accusations did more damage than a fatal wound. Cor clenched his sword, radiating anger and hurt at the bell's toll._

" _All of that is true, so is everything else I've done to you. But you have to stay with me…because…" His trembling hand on the handle created a chiming melody and it gave him the motivation to at least give one good thing to Tempesta. "Because I lov—"_

" _Stop it! I don't want to hear it!" The blonde covered her ears, hiding from him and the sounds. "I can't choose you. I won't!"_

 _The rejection cut and the marshall hardened immediately to suppress it._

" _Then leave!" He belted out and she flinched._

 _Her nose twitched with the effort of not sniveling and her teeth were digging hard into her lips to muffle any sobs._

 _All Cor wanted to do was embrace her or jokingly pet her head, but that was the past. Their present would move towards a convergence where such sentimental actions weren't proper._

 _The fist fighter picked up her helmet, fixed her hair and secured the headpiece._

" _The next time I see you, I'll show you how mortal you are, Cor." Tempesta promised in that eery voice modulator, stepping past the marshal without a backward glance._

 _He didn't move until the roar of a motorcycle was gone and all the man heard was the hush of nature._

 _To be alone. That was his lot in life, so it was fitting that his nickname included immortal in it. An immortal outlived all the things they protected and cherished, suffering the bitter sting of loneliness until they met their final demise._

 _He'd failed kings, friends, loved ones…_

 _The list could go on and on._

" _To be killed by Tempesta, my little kitten…it would be poetic I suppose." Cor gingerly touched the bell, comforting himself with the noise and wondering all that could have been. "I was her beginning and she'll be my end…"_

 _Poetic justice to its fullest._

 _On the ridge overlooking the campsite, Tempesta scoffed. Enhanced hearing combined with the magitek helmet allowed her to hear the private mussing._

" _Not poetic in the sense you're thinking, Cor. Your life for mine and the kid you cost me."_

 _This time the younger Besithia truly drove off with no more second thoughts._

 _His insistence on an abortion and the following argument distressed her to the point of a miscarriage. The bell she bought for their unexpected cub after the drunken debacle had been angrily tossed into Cor's face when he was let back into the hospital room, setting the tone for their toxic relationship._

 _One day, a bell would ring and a man would die. Let the memento of their lost child haunt him until then._

"Oh, Tempesta, my poor darling…I'm so sorry." Imperatrix cried, hugging the girl with the strength of a mother bear. "I am going to kill Cor in single combat, I swear it!"

"I'd love to see that, but I got dibs." She mumbled from the confines of the bear hug. "My hair is getting drenched from all your bawling. God, you're a crybaby."

What a sap. Imperatrix was spilling more tears over the event than she had.

"I'm sorry I wasn't more attentive!" The princess continued on, not all insulted and only feeling more for her retainer. "I won't make the same mistake."

"Huh? What're you—"

"I shouldn't have gotten drunk at the club."

"What? Are you serious?" Tempesta pushed Imperatrix off by the cheek, clicking her tongue in annoyance, but immensely absorbed with the consideration, demonstrated by her silly, fanged grin. "Chill out! Temple was fun to play with and I got laid anyway. A good night."

"W-Wait a minute." The princess sat up, rubbing her cheek. She wanted to address the second portion of that statement.

"Did you have a little fun? Nyx talked my ear off about you. He was really put out that Neb's your dude." The fist fighter then busted out laughing, knowing how improbable it was for Nebula to breech that line with Imperatrix.

For one, the elder Besithia was the biggest bastard of stoicism to the point she wondered if the man possessed emotions outside the realm of violence and vexation. Unlike Tempesta, he didn't really feel the things he expressed to people. Nebula was like a parrot, chirping back things he witnessed other people doing in an effort to fit in.

He might laugh and poke fun, but it was debatable if there was true enjoyment in those actions or if he'd just become very in tune with social cues, knowing when to laugh.

There was also the other reason why Nebula would never permit himself to love Imperatrix in a manner outside of chaste servant adoration. He didn't want to dishonor the previous him that loved the princess and died for her…

"Nyx took you back to your room. What happened?" Tempesta shelved thoughts about her brother, they were way above her intelligence aptitude and gave her a headache.

Imperatrix clenched her jaw, blue eyes darting elsewhere.

"What happened?! You're obligated to tell me every dirty detail! We're best friends, right?!" The fist fighter shook the princess to the point her head was snapping backwards. "Tell me!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Not if you break my neck!"

"Ooops, sorry!"

The princess groaned, massaging her neck. Would she ever not be a recipient of pain?

Thinking on the outing garnered color in her and she coughed. Here Imperatrix was, having another boy talk after going more than a year without them. This might end up becoming the norm with her increased romance avenues, getting mortified over them wouldn't do her any good.

A grown woman didn't cower from her inclinations, she accepted them, allowing none to shame her. Well-meaning friends included.

"We…almost consummated…"

"Do you have to be so proper and old-fashioned? Use modern slang sometimes!" Tempesta's lit face sank into disappointment. "And what do you mean 'almost'? Did he freak out or something? Too drunk to get it going? I knew he was loser."

Imperatrix's mortification still grew even though she talked herself to not be affected by it. Time and repetition would null the programmed blushing.

To have Nyx pin her on the couch, giving her hardly any control in their tussling...it was an intoxicating experience. Not nearly as grueling as she thought to let someone else be in control.

The first kiss…all it took was one for it to be over for her. She didn't know why out of all the intimacies, with the exception of actual sex, kissing flooded her with attachment and romanticism. She rebuffed all the glaives attempts to claim her lips for that very reason.

Now the princess wouldn't be able to smother her feelings for the wild man. They would preoccupy her thoughts till she expressed them, a hidden secret dying for deliverance.

Feelings burned deeply for Imperatrix.

A prime example was Ardyn Izunia, the most mysterious person she knew. He caused tumultuous fluctuations in her emotions, often enough that she reconsidered the notion of having multiple consorts. Her first was only one man, but could be all the stress of hundreds of men.

She wanted to hold him or choke him. Find the man beneath the beast or reject all inquiries of his past. Defend him from anymore hurt or leave him to reap what he sowed.

One then the other, Ardyn was so complicated. A contrast to the simpler Galahdian.

Oh, Nyx…he'd be the second, there could be no more doubt on that.

"You're not listening at all!"

A pillow struck the princess in the face.

"I am now." She blew her messy bangs out of her face once the pillow slid off.

"Why didn't you two do it?" Tempesta repeated with less patience, wriggling to reach the vibrating phone in her pocket.

"Nyx wanted it to be a clearheaded experience." Imperatrix clarified.

The freckle twin's fight sobered everyone up for the rest of the night as they made the most of it. It wasn't like she didn't have the capability to say nay or dismiss Nyx if the princess was unreceptive. His refusal was charming to a degree, as was his promise to leave her heady from the experience when they weren't bogged down with alcohol.

"Maybe he took my advice. Might not be as stupid as I thought." The fist fighter checked her phone, reading a message. "Amazing how different people act when I'm not masked. Can't wait to see their shocked faces when the jig's up."

"What advice? What did you tell him?"

"No time for that. We finally get to eat!" The blonde hopped off the bed, kicked her mask upward, and fastened it on. "Lets go, Impera!"

The princess complied, knowing she wouldn't get any more out of Tempesta when the girl was set on rewarding her stomach. As they exited, Imperatrix sped after the jubilant cat, hugging her from behind.

"I am elated to have you by my side, Tempy. For however long that may be." She proclaimed sincerely.

The fist fighter's footwork became momentarily skittish, but the blonde fixed it before she could trip, maneuvering so they walked side by side, arms wrapped around each other's waist. Together the females laughed.

"You'll be putting up with me for a long time. We're best bitches, right?"

The option of leaving the princess's service had always been on the table. Imperatrix valued loyalty and attendants forced into servitude were likely to give the opposite. Therefore, at any point in their tenure, if Tempesta or Nebula ever wanted to resign, they were free to with no reprisal from the crown.

She'd done a lot of mean, petty things to force the princess into dismissing her, but the white-haired saint lived on patience and love. There wasn't much Imperatrix held a grudge over and her forgiveness was easy to obtain if the guilty party really wanted it.

Why would Tempesta ever want to leave the first person to care about her?

Finding out she was pregnant after passing out on a mission with the princess hadn't been fun. The fist fighter fully expected to be punished heavily, especially after revealing that the father wasn't someone she could easily get in touch with. Somehow Imperatrix just knew that Cor was responsible, but she didn't reprimand Tempesta, at least not for what she thought.

No, no. The brown-skinned snowball chewed her out for endangering the child and herself by going on a monster hunt with the princess when she should've been on bedrest.

The following weeks were where Tempesta thawed to her liege. Imperatrix looked after her, making sure she ate correctly, buying her better-suited clothes, setting up doctor appointments for her, and moving her out of her grungy apartment into the palace suite she'd refused to stay in for fear of getting used to something that would be taken away sooner or later.

Stupid, kind-faced Imperatrix assured her the room would be hers as long as she wanted it.

A couple times she bawled into her pillow because nobody had taken care of her like that. Not even simple stuff like asking how she was feeling that didn't require a person to do anything, or just telling her everything would be okay when she couldn't take it and giving her hug.

She didn't learn what it was like to be hugged until going through eighteen years of misery with that science-freak father that didn't give a shit and dozens of other lookalikes with no concept of affection.

"Not the terminology I would use, but yes." Imperatrix beamed. "We are the best of friends, worthy of ballads. The empress and the storm, a tale for the ages."

"Old man Iddy was really daft for naming you empress in Latin. Your Persian name is just as corny. Poor you."

"Hey!"

"You gave Nebula and me our names too. Bad naming senses seems to run in the Aldercapt family."

The name was the first kindness, the patient care the second, the gift of choice the third.

"Why are you insulting us?!"

Tempesta shrugged, shit-eating grin grating on Imperatrix's nerves. "How long do you think it'll take Savage and Temple to figure it out?"

"Lunafreya might discern the truth since she knows Latin…" The princess shook her head at the deceptive game. "Nyx does not know the language, he will not discover the irony."

"Sucks for him then, I'm dragging this out for as long as I can. It's gonna be so funny in the end!" Tempesta cackled.

She'd always be wanted by Imperatrix. There'd always be a place with her.

She didn't need Cor. Who needed Eros when a person had Plato?

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"So this kid's really related to the psychopaths and not you?" Nyx questioned, scratching his head at the sight of the princess fawning over a lanky pre-teen of pale hair, paler skin, dressed like a science nerd with his lab coat, turtle-neck, slacks, and beat-up boots.

Genius Besithia, the family prodigy as he introduced himself. The beamers prevented the glaive from determining the kid's eye color. This was what the retainers looked like under the masks then.

Mystery solved! They couldn't be Storm and Cloud. The color scheme between the kid and twins didn't match up.

"All of them are basically my crazy relatives. But yes, to answer your question, Izzy is a Besithia." Imperatrix ruffled the fourteen year-old's shaggy spikes. "You need a haircut, Darling."

"If you say so, Impera. I'm sure Neb will cut it all off." He shrugged, typing away on his computer.

"I certainly will. You look like you haven't seen sunlight in months." The gunman assured from the kitchen area where Lunafreya was helping him clean the dishes after the morning meal.

"He looks like he hasn't seen _food_ in months either." Tempesta added, poking at her little brother's gaunt face. "You barely ate anything, wasteful, midget shit!"

"How can it be considered wasteful when you ate the rest?" Genius rebutted through the painful prodding. "Your intake value is illogical."

"Don't pick a fight you'll lose, Izzy."

Nyx rolled his eyes as the two siblings went back and forth. "Why do the crazies keep multiplying? There's so many of them."

The usual group now featured the high commander glaring at everybody like they were vermin, the chancellor smiling away at all the madness he constructed, and the weirdo kid absorbed with his laptop. All of them were confined in the dining room of Setzer.

The glaive never foresaw this in his future. So many imperials!

Thankfully, none of them were currently trying to murder him. Ravus might be the newest contender, giving him the stink-eye every second for talking to his sister. His murder attempts would bring some variety into the fold between Nebula's bullets and Tempesta's fist. Nephilim sure were violent, picking fights at every instance. Probably all the pent up sexual frustration manifesting itself.

Actually...having one of them do him in might be a mercy in disguise. His latest baggage would be a long and tedious death...

Fenrir bite his tongue! He shouldn't be thinking like that!

But...what else could Nyx do? Pessimism suddenly became the new optimism for him.

"Ravus, calm down." Lunafreya said softly to her brother once she sat next to him at the table.

His rigid posture of crossed arms, sneer, and tapping foot wove together a story of him evoking into a shouting fit and threatening harm to everyone present. The elder Fleuret's temper was his biggest downfall, among other things…

She'd not wish his aggressions on anyone present. His backhand was particularly unpleasant.

"Are you not bothered by this noise?" He asked bitingly. "I forgot how obnoxious Imperatrix's retinue could be."

"I have gotten used to it." Lunafreya was unaware of the small smile slipping out as she watched Nyx and Tempesta argue with Imperatrix playing mediator to no success, until Nebula whipped out his gun, forcing order by shooting the two bickerers with his famous pain-inducing darts.

The fist fighter and glaive toppled to the floor, writhing in pain and vowing vengeance on the gunman. The first instance of them agreeing on something and sparking an alliance boding disaster for their enemy.

The oracle was used to negativity being the center focus of disputes. When she and Ravus disagreed it led to them saying hurtful things to the other and in worse-case scenarios, the elder struck the younger, cowing her into obedience. Her brother was supposed to be her biggest protector and yet…he felt closer to being Lunafreya's biggest oppressor.

How tragic...

The way the Besithia needled people didn't exhibit maliciousness, at least not now that they all spent weeks traveling together and didn't immediately associate each other as enemies. No, after Ramuh's trial…they all started to mesh together a little better.

Nebula wasn't always watching her and unsubtly pointing his gun at her.

He surprisingly pulled the oracle aside to supervise her cooking skills. The intimidating man mostly did this because he wanted her to contribute around the ship and she expected him to be very harsh, but the gunman wasn't...mostly...

The worst of it had been his snide remarks and occasional physical reprimands by tapping her with a spoon. Nothing she couldn't handle and minimal compared to what he did to Tempesta when she made mistakes. He was darn near sweet after the experience with Nyx's mom, Thea.

The younger Besithia wasn't completely abrasive to Lunafreya, toning down her insults...

It was a slower progress with that one.

Bickering and fighting from the imperials just felt like a natural component to the group's dynamic. It wasn't done to disrespect or hurt, but out of merriment. Very different to how Ravus and she communicated.

Her perspective of their cultural intricacies evolved.

"They are the liveliest parts of my days."

The high commander studied his sister's peaceful expression. Jealousy ebbed to the surface and he turned away, directing the discord towards the people stealing Lunafreya's affections.

He was her flesh and blood! That look of warmth escaped his gaze for years. He couldn't recall the last time she bestowed him anything other than her contempt!

"Now, now, children! Lets all behave. This is supposed to be a meeting, focus is paramount." Ardyn chastised playfully.

The very picture of a hypocrite as he spun his upside-down hat on the table, magically pulling candy out of it and passing pieces to the outstretched hands of Tempesta and Genius.

"You are the least qualified person to say that." Imperatrix countered, balefully resting her cheek on her knuckles as she peered at the empty insides of the hat, stumped on how he summoned the confections.

Loud agreements from the other imperials followed.

"Awww, I'm hurt by everyone's skepticism! I can be the picture of solemn." The chancellor's air of mischief didn't tone down, merely heightened as he took ahold of the princess's hand, closed it into a fist, and shook it like a magician would before the reveal of his trick. "But I'm not in the mood for it."

Seconds longer than was proper, Ardyn let go, urging the woman to open her palm. A chocolate kiss sat in the middle.

"Please control yourself then." She fought off a blush, pocketing the gift for later.

All of the present imperials were well acquainted with Ardyn's disruptive hijinks during meetings. Throwing papers balls and all other paper constructs, humming some loud tune ranging from a variety of genres, carrying on side conversations of no importance, and playing games on his phones, were all criminals acts of the notorious red head in official settings.

"I'll be on my best behavior, Your Highness." The man chuckled, not inspiring any kind of honesty in his statement.

"Yeah right." Was the collective disagreement.

Everyone settled in their seats for the discussion they kept getting distracted from with such a large group present. All eyes went towards the youngest member, Genius, the one with something important share.

"You're all going to become my guinea pigs." He announced, orange-tinted glasses glinting and mouth quirking into a cheshire grin. "Rejoice, piglets."

Cue the dead silence, creeped-out looks, sighs, and finally laughter. A mixed bag of responses that the scientist anticipated, variety was important!

He expected a little more from the new people that didn't know him. More horror and exclaims.

The chancellor specifically asked him to be as sinister as possible to get the best responses out of the oracle and glaive. Their uneasy frowns probably weren't to Ardyn's standard.

Oh, well. He'd have plenty of trials to conduct. More chances to unnerve them for the sake of the science of humans and his idol's amusement.

"I'm losing hope for imperials. It's like you're all insane…" Nyx muttered, shivering fearfully in his seat as if the air were contaminated. "I'm freaked out. What if it rubs off on me?"

The glaive got kicked under the table by Tempesta for that one, but mostly went ignored, even as he slumped into the table to groan out his agony.

"I, for one, will not be participating in any of your field tests, Genius." Ravus stated firmly. "I am the high commander, not a guinea pig. Find someone else to do your dirty work."

The mechanical arm still pained him, seeping into his mind with subtle brushes of noise. He hadn't allowed Lunafreya to heal him for fear of her sensing the daemon encased within the steel.

The high commander had more important matters to concern himself with. Examples being, coordinating the base evacuations with Erik, prying information from his tease-of-a-wife about her request, and eventually whisking his sister back to Tenebrae.

Too busy for these foolish pastimes. How did Imperatrix manage to get anything done when she was surrounded by these morons?

This was why she'd never get anywhere. Too many parasites draining her of competence and making it difficult for her to do useful, meaningful things in the empire. If the foolish princess put in more effort in the right activities, she could've been empress by now.

How different would the empire be under Imperatrix's reign?

"I respectfully disagree, Lord Ravus. Also, you're on board the princess's vessel and she has given me permission to head this operation. Your participation is now mandatory." The albino used the tv remote to turn on the television.

The screen displayed the map of Lucis pulled up on his computer.

"Not only do I require your assistance, I need more data on your magitek arm. Partaking in the mission benefits us both."

Ravus grunted, understanding the logic, but he still posed an incrimination to the princess. "What are you scheming?"

Imperatrix for her part appeared composed, but internally she panicked, grinding through her mind for an answer. She didn't have a clue what Genius was talking about!

Ardyn saved her from replying.

"Why not let Izzy tell it? He's already got the presentation set up and you're raining on his parade." He tutted, wagging his finger. "So rude of you, my lord."

The high commander didn't deign to retaliate against the most annoying person he'd ever had the misfortune of meeting.

The princess relaxed in her seat, jumping a little at the brush of a boot on her foot and then moving up her leg. The chancellor pretended to not know why she furrowed her brow at him, facade faltering only at his thigh being squeezed and accidentally spinning his hat off the table. He bent down to retrieve it, impish side prompting him to plant a kiss on Imperatrix's ankle angled to the sideways on her lap and smirking as she bumped against the table in her haste to uncross her legs. She massaged her throbbing knee.

All this flirting occurred in the span of seconds and passed unknown to everyone, but two.

Imperatrix coughed, requesting. "For the sake of those unaware, please provide an explanation, Izzy."

Nyx and Lunafreya were the targets of her statement, but she was as clueless as them. Her approval for this field expedition must have been given impulsively, probably while she helped Ardyn with his paperwork in Saxham.

It wouldn't be the first time his slippery, dexterous fingers tricked her into signing something. Through his machinations, the princess became an accomplice in numerous pranks.

All accidents on her part!

She didn't mean to approve periodically sending asparagus to a senator that snubbed her in council. The man was allergic to the items and broke into hives each time it entered his office. Irritating as the man was, he didn't deserve that punishment.

She didn't mean to approve one of Ardyn's secretaries undergoing therapeutic acupuncture. The poor woman had enough to deal with. Keeping her boss in line was taxing and she reportedly hated needles. Imperatrix felt extraordinarily bad for that one.

She certainly didn't mean to approve a mandatory musical collaboration from all the palace staff and her family. Pure terror of being on the receiving end of a disappointed lecture plagued Imperatrix when her father cornered her the month of the event. Amazingly, he'd been thrilled by the plan, desperate for some entertainment and they went ahead with it. A big showcase for the nobles and commoners that no one expected.

The last one wasn't as bad as the others, but still a fiasco in a fashion. Most things to do with the chancellor were fiascoes.

Oh, Ardyn…the princess could punch him. She should punch him.

"Piglets, you shall be gathering materials for me while testing out some of my latest inventions before they become standardized for military use." Genius used the pen tool on the tablet to circle areas and write notes, notations reflected on the widescreen tv. "I'm undecided on the team lineups and which to tackle first. This is where the battle fanatics offer suggestions."

The specified places were all dungeon landmarks known for their powerful wildlife and even more dangerous night counterparts.

"Why are we doing this?" Nyx blurted out and the albino focused his glasses on the speaker. "Uh, what? Why are you staring?"

Just like Nebula! It gave him chills.

Imperatrix reached over, raising his hand.

Genius broke his muteness. "Question, Sir Ulric?"

"Really, kid? Am I in school?" He scoffed, lowering his hand. "I thought I was in a meeting with adults."

"Nyx, just play along. It is the easier path." The princess shut him down before the glaive could get more insulting.

She wouldn't even get into how unrefined and discourteous his elocution could be. The glaive caved for pleading blue eyes and repeated his question, no less rudely just to make a point of his disgruntlement.

"These materials need to be collect for the Aurora set to be completed."

Imperatrix perked up at the mention of her equipment, practically bouncing with energy. "No fear, Izzy. We shall conquer all these dungeons!"

Nebula sunk in his seat while Tempesta matched the rising enthusiasm.

"Why aren't you doing this in Niflheim? Why come all the way to Lucis?" Nyx brought up, recalling how they retrieved the scientist from a transport vessel and hauled in crates of equipment to boot.

It didn't make sense to scavenge outside their home territory. Everything they retrieved would have to be taken back to Niflheim and then transferred to factories. It all sounded like too much time and money.

Or maybe the jerks were just rubbing salt in the wound with this. Once a greedy Niff, always a greedy Niff.

Whereas other imperials were reticent about revealing potential weakness, the candid nature of a scientist left Genius spilling the obvious. "We've exhausted the supply we had. With Shiva's ice and snow blocking major sources, Lucis is the only place available for certain items."

Both Nyx and and Lunafreya were caught off guard by the simple explanation.

"I understand the moronic face from the outsider, but why is Lady Lunafreya making it as well?" He pushed his glasses up, keeping his ruby-red eyes hidden from view. "Surely you know of your nation's circumstances?"

"I…was not aware of this predicament…" The oracle spoke up.

The albino found that hard to believe. "Haven't you seen Ghorovas Rift? Niflheim looked very different eleven years ago."

"She has not and you will speak no more of it." Ravus interceded sharply.

He didn't want his sister to learn the true depth of horrors left outside the fortified capital. Her faith would be shaken. While that might be beneficial in regards to her destiny, as a brother, the high commander wasn't ready to completely shatter her beliefs.

Religion was one of the things Lunafreya basked in as stability, a constant that would never abandon or harm her. Let the girl have that one bit of peace, ironic as it was.

The very Astrals she prayed to would be her death when they had every capability of saving their oracle. They made him sick, but livened his sister. How utterly infuriating!

"Hold on a second, this isn't getting brushed off like that." Nyx argued, gesturing to the standard map of Niflheim that everyone was used to seeing. "This sounds serious and I wanna know."

According to the map, they still had good land for resources, completely at odds with what Genius reported.

"Hmm, a truth seeker. I never turn down an opportunity to enlighten." The scientist proceeded to switch on a few layers to reveal the accurate state of the empire. "This is how Niflheim as a kingdom really looks."

"H-How?" The glaive gasped at the picture.

There was a shit ton more white covering the whole western portion of the entire continent, leaving only the smallest margin of natural desert climate in the eastern countries straddling the ocean. The two island countries and Tenebrae were also free of the disaster zone.

It was amazing that the empire even still possessed functioning cities considering how steeped in snow the place was. Hard to tell which nation had it worse, Lucis with its sparse outposts and small-scale cities or Niflheim with its drastic living conditions.

When he thought about it, both nations were terrible to live. Accordo might be the secret jewel...

"You both are so flummoxed by this, I feel obligated to give a history lesson." Genius manipulated the screen to show two images side by side, present day Niflheim and the empire prior to Shiva's judgement. "The maps viewed by the general populace is incorrect. Only those from the empire are allowed to see a straightforward rendition of the homeland. Not that it even matters, soldiers are the only ones that really travel nowadays. Far too unpredictable and unsafe for citizens to brave the blizzards."

"You guys…publicized a false map to the world?" Nyx repeated, mind blown by the international level of bullshitting from the empire.

They must have strict customs on immigration to keep up that façade. Then again, why would anyone want to move to Niflheim? He didn't hear too many people boasting about their holiday trip to the capital, or posting dumb selfies about it.

"There are far less realms…and Gralea…" Lunafreya added her own alarm, eyes wide from disbelief. "The capital is tiny compared to before…"

According to the charts, Gralea used to be thrice as big, multiple layers of the city leading towards the heightened peak of the ruler's residence, very much an elaborate, circular ziggurat of the ancient days. Now it was no more than a single circle of habitation.

She couldn't remember it any other way, but the idea of it being more floored the oracle.

Lunafreya never knew the damage was vast! The incident occurred far from her home and was downplayed at the time by their caretakers. When the Fleurets were summoned to court, the oracle couldn't give a justification to the emperor.

At the time, a dark, vile part of her felt it just that the conquerors should have their lands ravaged. They deserved a taste of what they gave to others.

Her noncompliance and acrimonious attitude led to the emperor banishing her from court and instilling a senator to govern Tenebrae. Much of Ravus's anger towards her stemmed from that dreadful meeting. Only when he became a commander did Tenebrae finally return to a Fleuret's hands.

Her brother…probably didn't deserve so much of her enmity. He sacrificed a lot for her and their country...

"Are the cities buried under the snow?" The oracle inquired, shaking free of family issues.

Why did Shiva attack? She'd become indifferent to the plights of man. Her rage didn't make sense. Such behavior would be expected of the Tidemother, not the Glacian.

"Luna, stop." Ravus shot her a glare that would normally have shut the girl up, but time away had given his sister newfound belligerence.

"What has become of them?" She reiterated.

The youngest Besithia was more than willing to expose his intelligence, though they'd gotten way off track from the original destination. "The lucky ones were entombed in snow. The unlucky ones—"

"I said she doesn't need to know!" The high commander boomed, rising to his feet in a fury.

"I detest withholding information, it causes too much trouble in the long run." It couldn't bee seen, but Genius was giving Ravus the coldest glare possible, inherited from Nebula.

"You are a child, boy! Remain in a child's place and don't defy my wishes."

"I'm not a child! Is a child capable of having multiple Master Degrees in science?!"

"This is escalating, perhaps we ought to move on?" Imperatrix intervened peacefully, waving to Lunafreya to soothe her brother.

The oracle tugged on Ravus's sleeve until he was once more seated and kept a firm hold on his arm. The scientist however wasn't mollified and out of spite returned to the previous topic.

"To end your curiosity, those misfortune countries are encased in eternal ice. Mausoleums of frozen corpses." He divulged once he had everyone's attention again.

Nyx and Lunafreya paled as Genius hammered in the point by bringing up photographs. The people in them were literally frozen to death, as was everything else in the scene.

Tempesta and Nebula were impassive to the flickering images, having already encountered the places first-hand on exploration missions.

Ardyn was content to unnerve Lunafreya, another chosen one, and to drag any Astral's image into the mud, but he wasn't willing to stir up a panic attack in Imperatrix. Luckily, she wasn't showing any signs of alarm, just glazed-over staring. He reached under the table to hold her hand, startling the woman out of whatever internal hell she envisioned herself in.

"I can't…I refuse to believe the Glacian did all this." Lunafreya was the one to burst out her seat this time. "The Astrals are protectors of humanity!"

Gentiana...she needed answers! Why?! Why would Shiva attack so brutally and leave a country crippled?!

The girl rushed out of the room before sickness took over, for hysteria and dread already had.

"This is why I despise people." Ravus spat, wanting to strike Genius, but refraining since his sister took priority.

He went after Lunafreya.

"Hmph, they don't really like you either." The albino twirled his tablet pen. "Now then, if there are no more questions, we can finally get to the actual presentation."

Nyx shook his head, getting up and swaying from the sudden shift or maybe from the horrific pictures. "I…I need a minute…"

His departure got a sigh out of the princess.

"I have to rehabilitate all of you…" She mumbled. "Sometimes I wonder..."

Was it even worth it to try humanizing them? They were all so warped, scales against them from them beginning.

Still...duty was duty and they were hers to protect and guide.

"Ah, why are you upset, Impera?" Genius dug his pen into his hair, scratching out his frustration with humans. "I know you're always telling me to play nice, but the high commander is terrible. Do you know how many complaints have been filed against him? Almost as many the chancellor!"

Ardyn made a noise of shock, face mockingly aghast at the allegation.

"Why do you even know that?" Imperatrix got an admonishing air about her. "Have you been hacking into the palace database again?"

"Uhh…no?"

"You have erred thrice, young man!"

"Three times, how?"

"Right now in how you behaved, illegally procuring information and then lying about the second!"

"Oh." Genius chewed on his pen after dusting it off. "All I did was answer a question. Can that be considered an offense?"

No defense was given for the other two crimes. He'd gotten in trouble for worse things than privacy breaches and fibbing.

Imperatrix came to stand by the boy, pulling on his ear. "It is how you did so that is the problem, Izzy! Consideration is important when speaking and your petty manner was not so. Those photographs were also entirely unnecessary!"

He groaned at the chastisement and physical punishment. "Humans are so irritating!"

"Need I remind you, you are one?"

"No, I'm not." The scientist denied, glasses sinking down his nose for the teenager to peer up at the princess with his unnatural red eyes.

Even among the many Besithia, he was special. Intelligence prompting the boy to name himself Genius and even being called so by their father, an honor reserved only for him. His albino features were another set of characteristics that set him apart from his brethren.

He was not some ordinary human!

"This proves I will have remove you from that laboratory more often." Imperatrix let go of the boy's ear, carding her fingers into his locks.

"Noooo. You already send me on tedious missions as is!"

"Just shut up and take your sentence before she makes it worse." Nebula remarked.

"Like being assigned to go to the mall or park and mingle is such a bad thing. I wish we'd get missions like that!" Tempesta complained. "Lucky brat!"

The princess washed her hands of the ensuing debate of who got the easier assignments, walking past the group with the intention of leaving, but a put-out voice stopped her.

"Where are you going? We still haven't gotten to the best part!" Ardyn whined.

He'd outdone himself with the designs and seeing Imperatrix make that childish face of wonder she did when faced with something that peaked her tastes would make all that brainstorming worth it.

"To speak with our disturbed companions." Even as she said that, certain people knew the princess really meant Nyx because Ravus would tend to his sister.

"Can't that wait? I wanted you to see my blueprints for the armor."

Imperatrix hesitated, looking between the monitor and the door.

"You make it sound as if yours are the final draft. I thought we agreed to let Impera choose the better option, Maestro?" Genius asserted with confidence that his brilliant, functional outlines would win.

"Oh, little Izzy. My prodigious, clueless student." The chancellor cooed, equal parts indulgent and patronizing. "We both know I'm going to win."

"Those adjectives are contradictory, it must be one or the other."

"But people aren't so easy to define, my boy. You'll understand when you get older."

"No I won't. I'm already smarter than most adults and on the same mental level as Father!"

While Ardyn became distracted with Genius, Imperatrix turned to Nebula. "I will leave the arrangements to you and go over them later."

"Understood, Your Highness."

Even though the princess told the gunman to decide, her mind ran through an outline on her walk to the glaive's quarters.

The places Genius wanted them to go were Daurell Caverns, Costlemark Tower, Balouve Mines, and the Rock of Ravatogh. Four places in three different regions. One of them could only be accessed at night, meaning daemons galore for the group to overcome.

They were currently flying through Duscae so the logical course would be to tackle the caverns and tower since they were nearest in the area. However, Costlemark was reputed to hold immensely powerful daemons and due to this, imperials weren't able to fully cart out the place. That dungeon was to be completed last.

Then again…Genius did bring new weapons and his inventions could tip a battle.

She arrived in front of the door before a conclusion could be reached, knocking and then entering once beckoned. The room was everything to be expected of a man. Clothes were thrown about. The desk was cluttered with some sort of project judging by the metal strings, beads, scales, and seashells.

Was he making something? Nyx did tell her Galahdians were known for their jewelry.

"I must be dreaming." The glaive joked from his sloppy position on the lower bunk-bed, leg and arm hanging off the side of the bed.

"You are not."

"Prove it."

She smirked, sitting right on his stomach to disprove the theory.

"Okay, okay! Not dreaming." He wheezed. "Thanks for demolishing my insides."

"I should leave just for that." The princess slid off, perching herself on the edge of the bed.

"I'm messing with you, Impera. You weigh almost nothing from the lack of meat in your diet." Nyx scooted over to make room for her. "What's up? I wasn't expecting you…yet…"

A couple of elephants they needed to acknowledge...

"Will you tell me what is bothering you?" The woman kicked off her shoes, bunching up her legs to rest her chin on her knees.

What a loaded question. Where to even start?

"Lunafreya was noticeably disturbed because she is of Niflheim is of the faith. You do not share those denominators."

"So cause I'm a Lucian, I'm not supposed to be bothered by the decimation of Niffs? Who's being a bigot now?" Nyx wasn't really looking for an answer, going on with his rant because he didn't feel like getting to the core of the matter. "Why didn't you all say something?! Shit, the rest of the world thought the attack was more like a trifle with how much bullshitting you guys did. I mean really? Forging fake maps? Come on!"

"Why would we announce to the world the truth of our situation? Doing so would have turned the tide." Imperatrix was getting too used to the glaive's outbursts because she hardly reacted with her own displeasure. "From conquerors to conquered in Father's eyes… He protected his nation."

Her father made many difficult decisions during that time.

The whole of Gralea went on ration control. The city lost a substantial amount of money, skyrocketing poverty and crime. The death toll increased like never before from the extreme climate conditions. Crops and livestock died out.

Life was frozen hell for years. Those were the years of true trial for Iedolas as he reformed a nation from scratch. None of his predecessors had to rebuild Mediterranean countries to suddenly survive subarctic temperatures. Not even her great ancestor Tellus could boast such a feat of unification.

So many places might have become another winter mausoleum of icy cadavers were her father any less of a ruler.

"Hey, hey, didn't you come here to comfort me? Why are you the one all weepy now?"

"I am not crying." Imperatrix corrected, falling onto her side, back to the glaive.

"Oh, sure. You're the oldest crybaby I know. It's weird." Nyx leaned over to check for weeping and was surprised to see she wasn't lying to keep face.

The princess still looked miserable, which always managed to make him all squishy on the inside. He hated seeing her like that, maybe because Selena was never the type to cry, nor was his mother, and the hunter specialist just didn't know what to do with a sobbing female.

Her downturned mood might in turn bring him into the dumps and Nyx needed to keep it together.

"Did you know? We Nephilim celebrate Die Defunctorum twice out of the year? Unlike Accordians who do so once. One day is a celebration and the other is a tragedy."

Lunafreya grew sick over pictures, abstract representations. How would she then react to standing before those frozen sculptures of people?

The old sections of Gralea were filled with blue buildings and blue people. Those citizens were going about their day, completely unprepared to become entrapped in their tasks, like a movie on pause.

Walking through one of those cities after the battle distressed Imperatrix to the point she became catatonic, snapping out of it after her father retrieved her. His frostbitten arms wrapped her securely, laying her head on his chest and keeping Imperatrix within the warmth of his coat all the way back to the flagship. She shook bitterly, refusing to let go of him or be separated until they returned home.

Both of them were changed from the experience.

Those cities haunted her nightmares. Habitation filled with life, but devoid of it, the very essence of contradiction.

Were those people alive or dead? Nothing could free them from the goddess's curse, not even fire. They were trapped evermore in chilly purgatory.

"Okay, you're not crying, but you're shaking like a Martini." Nyx jested, pleased that it got a reaction out of the trembling woman. A confused one, but still a reaction. "Do you know where that's from?"

"N-No?" Imperatrix drew out the word unsurely, thinking he was referencing his bartender skills.

Obviously not from his droll eyeroll.

"It's from a spy movie, babe."

"I-I see…" Sentences failed her at the moment with Nyx's arms assuredly wrapping around her, becoming spooned by the man.

"Maybe I'll show you it one of these days."

In his bedroom in Galahd were some old-school movies. When he finished the business with Lunafreya the could chill out at the bar and watch the films. Knowing the psychos though, they'd crash the date and the oracle was so sheltered that once she heard about it, she'd want to see a spy in action. Of course Libertus would want to be where the party was too and invite himself.

Wait a second…

Why the hell was he planning this out?!

Nyx jerked as his foot came into contact with smaller, colder ones. "Geez, you need to wear socks! Why are you so anti-shoes in general?!"

Imperatrix was always taking them off when they were inside the Setzer or any place they settled in. He could even remember how she so stupidly ran around Insomnia barefoot and continued that trend all the way to Longwythe.

How did she still have skin on the bottom of her feet at this point?!

"I have nothing against footwear. It is considered discourteous to wear them inside the home." The princess shared.

"A Nephilim thing?"

"A Persian one."

"Your mom's side, right?"

Imperatrix hummed, a smile came out. "With how much hot air you blow out, your capacity for listening does astound me."

Nyx snorted good-naturedly. "We just love insulting each other, huh?

"Yes, very much so."

They both got on each other's nerves and made sure to let the other know. Didn't stop them from functioning cooperatively…most of the time.

"Pshh…I guess it works. The mom usually berates the dad, it's just the way parents flirt." The glaive closed his eyes, nose tickled by the smell of peppermints and pressed closer to the origin.

"Did yours do that?" Imperatrix quietly inhaled, instinctively she wasn't comfortable with strangers touching her, but he wasn't a stranger.

Not anymore.

"Yeah, and my dad laughed it off. My mom's insults didn't phase him at all."

"A thick-skinned man. Thea is…"

"A lovable hard-ass."

They laid there for a few minutes, listening to the other breathe. The princess found it interesting how her day was slotting out to be a day for embraces and deep talks. Not what she expected, but far more pleasant than everyone closed off, hating every person present and making a show of it.

If the antics could tone just a little, the princess would be immensely happy.

"You still have not told me what weighs on your mind. Tempesta hinted at something. What is it?" Imperatrix broached softly, lulled into comfort and susceptible to nodding off in Nyx's arms.

"I can't…"

"Just try." She felt the immediate tension and reluctance he battled and twisted to face the glaive. "I want to help you. Shared sorrow is half a sorrow."

His heart pounded rapidly. Peering into those composed blue eyes allowed him to ignore the stinging remembrance of magical flames.

"Nyx, whatever it is…it will be okay." The princess pronounced despite how worried his behavior was making her.

She hadn't seen him depressed since Insomnia. What could be hurting the man?

"No, it won't." The glaive acknowledged, crashing Imperatrix to his chest so he didn't have to see her cry.

The morning after their party, the Besithia's got a phone call from the doctor since the princess wasn't answering her phone. At the man's insistence, they dragged a semi-functioning Nyx to the hospital and waited outside for the doctor to deliver his news.

His entire world collapsed from one word.

Cancer.

The doctor diagnosed him with low grade Astrocytoma and from there Nyx's mind shut down, missing a majority of the mumbo-jumbo clinical terminology, instead honing in on the scans exhibiting the benign tumor.

The headaches, vision changes, nausea, and weakness were all written off by the glaive. He experienced all those things to a degree in his days of Kingsglaive. None of them struck him as odd.

Dismal shades of yellows, blues, greens, reds, and others he couldn't remember proved otherwise. The side effects of the magic bestowed by the ring were fatal.

How? Why?

What…

What did he do to receive a tumor in the same area of the facial scarring leftover from the ring? After all he sacrificed for those Lucian Kings and Insomnia.

This was his reward?!

It wasn't fair! Was this what those old ghosts meant when they claimed his life? A slow, painful death?!

They robbed him of magic and would rob him of his bodily functions. This was the most dishonorable death a warrior could ever experience.

"N-No…how can you have cancer?! I didn't drag you back from the abyss to die…" Imperatrix's denunciation was muffled into Nyx's shirt, tears wetting the fabric.

The princess couldn't bear the thought of him leaving her. No more death! She couldn't take it anymore!

"Dammit, you've got a grip." The glaive adjusted to the crushing hold around his waist, reluctantly pushing against her shoulders. "Baby, baby ease up! You're gonna break a bone!"

"Nyx there has to be something you can do!" Imperatrix unwound enough to look him in the eye, seeing the same fear reflected in them.

"There's nothing I can do. Nobody knows how to cure it." The glaive said resignedly. "The very best in Lucis and Tenebrae are still stumped over the incurable disease."

Was it incurable because it was magically induced? Then they should have put that in the disclaimer when he signed up for Kingsglaive.

Liable to die in action, willing to accept uncalled for xenophobia, low pay, oh and…at the end of service, very probable to receive cancer from all the extraordinary magic.

The princess flinched. His words rang true.

No one in the entirety of Eos had developed a cure. Lucis and Tenebrae were home to magical families and if they couldn't fix it, there was little hope for science to solve an issue plaguing them for centuries.

"Guess we were all wrong about the Lucian King's ultimatum. One day they will claim my life."

"Have you spoken to Lunafreya? Maybe…she can—"

"Impera, no!" He pushed her further back, showcasing severity. "Magic caused this problem. More of it doesn't seem like the solution."

"But you don't know that. Obviously we don't know anything."

"Don't say anything to her. Or anybody else, alright?"

"Nyx, this is your life at risk!"

"Not a word, Impera! Got it?!"

"But…" The fight was draining out of the princess the more the glaive glowered at her.

"Please…" Nyx's shoulders dropped. "Quit arguing with me."

She closed her mouth in defeat. With how tired he appeared, Imperatrix wouldn't trouble him more.

Sitting up to lay a hand on cheek, the princess smiled wanly. "Okay, Nyx. I'm sorry."

"I think…I need a nap now. You really know how to tire a guy out." He put a pillow underneath his dead, drowsily blinking at her. "There was something else…"

"It can wait. Rest now." Imperatrix stroked the scarred flesh tenderly.

"Fine. Remember to keep those lips sealed."

As Nyx dozed off, she covered him with the blanket, a strange of instance of tucking in that the woman hadn't done since Persia when her cousin's children requested it after a day of playing together.

In the spirit of that motherly instinct, the princess cleaned up the mess of clothes, folding them and arranging the items into the drawers for the glaive. She didn't disturb the work station, familiar with how livid Nebula got when his things were touched. The princess assumed Nyx might feel the same.

At the end of her cleaning spree, Imperatrix found herself unwilling to leave so soon. She perched herself on the floor, upper body laying on the bed with her face nestled in her elbow. Simply watching the rise and fall of Nyx's chest abated some of her fear.

What a cruel fate for one still in the prime of age.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Where are you taking us, Nebula?" Imperatrix gazed out the large windows of the bridge, uninterested in the beautiful landscape below or the decorative night sky above.

Thoughts ran and crashed in her mind since Nyx shared his grief. She'd sequestered herself in the training room after leaving him.

Thinking wasn't needed to dance with blades. In there the world made sense, it was stances, lunges, evasions, and calculations. Not the intricacies of life that Fortuna cast about without rhyme or reason.

The serving of dinner and Tempesta whining got Imperatrix to put down the weapons, shower, change, and join the rest of the members in the dining room once more. The mostly uneaten food and her lack of conversing drew the attention of her attendants and Ardyn, but she couldn't muster more than faint reassurances to them.

Nyx…

What could she do for him?

"We're on route for Daurell Caverns, where us lookalikes will get the bones." Nebula rolled the lollipop to the other side of his mouth that wasn't dried out from the candy. "Not sure why Izzy needs bones for armor."

"I would rather not know." The princess lifted her gaze, catching the reflection of the maskless gunman on the upper deck. "Since when do you eat candy?"

"I don't, but Aranea had these custom-made for me." He wanted to gag due to the horrible flavor. "The know-it-all is a Besithia all right, torturing me with these awful things. He could've used regular flavors."

Nebula would be sure to punch the brat once they were in the field and away from the princess. It would hurt a lot more for the kid now that the shaggy mop was cut off by him. Less cushion and more skull.

Pain would teach Genius to respect his senior.

"Why would she do that?" Imperatrix faced her retainer.

"Get me to quit smoking. These lollipops are supposed to inhibit my addiction."

"Are they working?"

"Ehh, my taste buds are filled with ear wax, so I definitively don't feel like smoking." His deadpan got her to giggle.

"Poor Neb."

He toyed with his hairband, deciding now was a good time to get her talking. "Ulric told you about the doctor?"

Imperatrix froze.

"We figured it was something dire."

Not to mention, only something of the dire magnitude would put the princess back into one of her highly depressed moods. Gods, Nebula didn't want to deal with that again.

It was always men putting her in abysmal moods.

First Ardyn and her father, now it was Nyx raining on her parade. A happy Imperatrix was easier to deal with than a miserable Imperatrix.

The princess went up a level to the pilot's seat, propping herself on the armrest next to Nebula. "I cannot disclose anything."

She'd keep her word to Nyx.

The gunman nodded in response. Everyone had their secrets and this wasn't a situation where he needed to pry them for his liege's sake.

"Explain to me why all the freckles are going to Daurell?" Imperatrix brought up a new line of conversation. "What about the rest of us, Captain Besithia?"

"Your group will scavenge the Balouve Mines while we're in the caverns. Then our two teams will reconvene at Costlemark, rest, prepare, and then engage the tower the following night."

"Very efficient. I concur with your battle plan." She frowned in a manner that could be taken as a pout. "I have the more troublesome lineup. I can already hear the vitriol from Ravus."

The elder wouldn't want his sister exploring a dungeon, but the younger would want nothing else. He might go to extremes to prevent Lunafreya's participation, locking the girl in her room.

Gods knew what stunt she in turn might pull to get her way. The oracle was brattish as the high commander was stifling.

Daily headaches were too frequent with this cast of players.

"Siblings, eh? If only we could go back to the great days of fratricide." Nebula drawled wistfully, scrunching up his face in thought. "Though in my case it wouldn't be fratricide, but suicide."

"Oh, Neb, no." Imperatrix slumped more into the blonde. "You are so morbid and savage!"

His macabre humor exceeded even Ardyn's and she'd heard some dark rumination from the red head. The chancellor and eldest Besithia were a bad humor duo.

It was a good thing Halloween was a Lucian holiday and not widely acknowledged in the empire, because no one would survive those two's tastes.

Never again would the princess allow them to set up a haunted house.

"Don't pretend to be a wimp. You're a deceptively, dark, twisted individual."

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are, Impera."

"Evidence. I demand evidence!"

Nebula smugly lifted his eyebrow for a dressing down that destroyed people's minds. "You are a one-in-a-million eccentric that enjoys the company of daemons. Face it, you're practically wicked at the core."

Incredulity was so strong that princess didn't give a comeback, squeaking out sounds of disagreement.

"Think about it." The gunman slapped her knee harder than he meant to and Imperatrix yelped, rubbing the spot. "You affiliate with many of us clones, knowing what's under the surface and have two as retainers. You adore Tonberrys and Moogles. You don't kill any daemons that appear at night unless they attack."

There was another observation he wanted to bring up, but Nebula wasn't sure about it. It was only a hunch at this point.

Binding daemons to magitek cores was introduced to their father by Ardyn. Verstael then expounded on that research, creating clones that harbored the dark monsters to serve as the army's infantry after the massive loss of military men and assists.

How did the chancellor possess profound knowledge of the night creatures? How was he able to bend them to his will?

No human should have that kind of power.

Something about Ardyn wasn't right…but oddly enough he and the other models never felt the uneasiness that people complained of. If anything, the red and black enigma echoed of familiarity.

On the blackest of nights where even the moon was swallowed, the crooning in his head often led Nebula to Ardyn. An urge of servitude would then mingle into his mind, displacing the host to the point the blonde had a mental break, deciphering how much of his thoughts were his own and those of the daemon.

The darkness awoke to the chancellor just as it recoiled to the oracle. Nebula often wondered if Ardyn was like them or something else entirely.

"Whether you know it or not, you love daemons as much as you love humans. That's not normal, Impera."

Him, Tempesta, Genius, a few other Besithias…and Ardyn. They all were fortunate enough to be given the love of a princess.

Unfathomable…

"I never…thought of it that way…" She couldn't refute him and hung her head in concession. "I suppose I am irregular…"

"S'not a bad thing for a person. Some might even say it's noble. Your Persian name is very apropos." The gunman chewed on the remains of the lollipop, translating the woman's many names into a phrase. "The empress whose heart is for the land."

Imperatrix lifted her head, mood improved.

Janan meant meant heart in her mother's language. Empress for Imperatrix and earth or land for Tellus in Latin. Aldercapt was a more difficult name to explain. She knew it originated from her ancestor being of the house Alder from ancient Gralean nobility. No one knew where the "capt" portion came from.

"Aww, Nebu—"

"It's diastrous for a princess to be so kind-hearted. You try to please everyone when it's impossible and get taken advantage of, or worse, stabbed in the back." The elder Besithia spat out the leftover stick, crushing it in his hand. "Taking care of you is a laborious task."

Her mood plummeted again.

"But I'll manage."

The bar of energy rose and Imperatrix covered her attendant's mouth before he could rollercoaster her emotions more.

"Thank you, Neb, my darling." The princess kissed the top of his golden hair, humming sweetly as she moved off the armrest. "I have such lovely retainers. My sword and shield, how I cherish you both."

The corner of his mouth moved up, the most amount of happiness the man could express without it appearing overly faked.

"I am retiring. Do not fly through the night."

"Ehh, that's not a bad idea. Save myself from Tempy and Izzy's nonsense."

He primarily liked flying because it relaxed him and reminded Nebula of Aranea's lessons. Woman was an aerial beast.

In general she was a beast.

The army might be filled with men, but the few women in the ranks were all forces of nature not to be trifled with. If half of the males had the female's tenacity, the army would be in a higher class of fearsome.

Too bad men were meatheads majority of their lifespans.

"Be nice." Imperatrix warned jokingly, door to the bridge closing behind her.

She still managed to catch the negative affirmation from the gunman before walking off. One more stop before her room.

Entering the dining room, the princess opened the fridge, retrieving the desert uneaten by her. A delicacy of chilled peaches in wine.

Nebula knew her favorites well.

For some reason her stomach was now deciding food was acceptable.

The chirpy dinging coming from the pocket of her kaftan frightened Imperatrix into dropping the spoon into the drawer.

"Who?" She began, paused, and took an educated guess to who would still be awake at one ante meridiem.

True to form, Ardyn's name popped up on the screen, or rather it displayed as Caesar after she changed it back in accordance to their rekindlement.

 _May I call on you, Princess? Or do you want space?_

His attentiveness was touching.

 _Wait in my room. I will be but a moment._

He replied with a swarm of hearts and every other cheesy emoji available. Imperatrix was stuck between an exasperated sigh and a girlish giggle. She replaced the spoon and picked up the glass. Eating in the kitchen was out now.

Passing the living quarters section, the princess heard nothing amiss. The hallway lights were dimmed and the occupied rooms didn't have arrows of light streaming across the floors.

Everyone was asleep.

Opening the door to the commodore suite, Imperatrix found the exception to the norm. Well, they both were exceptions.

Ardyn didn't sleep very often and she slept very little when not crashing from being awake for days.

"Don't you know it's bad to eat sweets this late?" The chancellor turned a page of the journal he was reading, comfortably reclined on the bed.

"Thank you pot. Do not forgot the tea in the kettle."

How many times had he snuck into her room well after dark, arms full of stolen kitchen goods? Honestly, a drawer of her vanity was specifically for Adyn's sweet-tooth needs and she didn't let the maids go in it.

They probably thought the locked drawer contained some nefarious item. Wait till someone broke into it and received a huge disappointment.

"So clever and cute. I ought to keep you in my pocket." He laughed, lifting his arm and wrapping it around the princess as she leaned into him, legs laying atop his and head resting on his chest.

The red head melted, cheek resting on white hair. The nearness and warmth of Imperatrix bestowing serenity.

A twinge of light reacted to her and as seeped in darkness as he was, feeling any echo of it was akin to an addict's relapse.

Falling into their routine was proving detrimental…

Mercy be though, Ardyn was weak for her. That hadn't changed during the second wind of their fateful wheel's turn.

"What secrets are hidden in your journal?"

"Ah, ah, ah!" The chancellor held his initialed gift out of Imperatrix's reach, voice taking on a note of scandal. "Not with those sticky fingers, you naughty girl!"

"Oh, my apologies." Without a thought, she licked the sugary nectar of peaches off her fingers. "I forgot."

" _Musa_." Ardyn sang seductively, fingers ghosting over the soft fabric of her dress, just beneath the chest.

The princess halted the action of cleaning her fingers, hyper-aware of the changed atmosphere. Brazenly, she plunged into the undercurrent of ardor. Driven to claiming what was hers.

Afterwords, the two laid entangled on the bed.

"Where are you going?" The question came out more of a whine than she meant and the princess covered her mouth, abashed.

"Hush now, Dearest." He pulled the hand off, planting a passionate kiss on her lips. "I'm going to take care of you."

Singing a song, the red head ventured into the bathroom, cleaning himself first, then returning to do the same for Imperatrix. The entire time he sang in a language she couldn't understand.

The meaning of the words escaped her. Yet, the tune invoked nostalgia.

"I know this but from where?" The princess hummed along to the chancellor's silky tenor.

He smiled, melancholic and reflective now done with the washing.

Ardyn reminisced how she used to sing with him all the time on their travels, to the irritation of their third companion. Tellus fussed constantly of how their lives played out as a musical composition when it was supposed to be an epic saga for generations to come.

Sadly, their tales were erased from history. At least the Alders association with him. The Persian Prince managed to carve out his own legend of Niflheim.

One silver lining out of their three fates.

Oh, Musa…she got the worst of it. He failed her terribly.

"Why do you sing this song, if it brings you sorrow?"

A hand curved along his smooth jaw.

"So I don't forget." Ardyn whispered, leaning into the touch.

Privately, he admitted to singing the old hymns as ditch effort on his part to trigger memories for Imperatrix. The ploy didn't work, serving to agitate the daemons since it was remnants of his light magic.

Perhaps it was for the best. She need not ever know the tragedy he brought upon her.

"Ready for bed, my dear? The hour is late…or is it early? Time is so confusing!" The red head waltzed around the room, naked and flamboyant as he collected his clothing.

"What are you doing?" The princess propped herself up by the elbows, disappointed to see him retreating behind gimmicks.

He inclined his head, expression communicating sarcasm. "Why, leaving of course."

"I want you to stay here." She didn't let his tone affect her, knowing he was doing it out of crossness for a past still lingering over his present.

"And…expose you?" Ardyn lost the mockery, surprise replacing it for how bold the princess was being in her request.

They courted secretly for years out of respect for her reputation and station as royalty while he was no more than a rich plebian with a title.

No Tellus Aldercapt in his family tree like the other prestigious blue bloods of the empire. Though if the fools knew his real family tree they'd sing a different tune. Scratch that, most likely the same tune since his origins were better than they thought, but still problematic from a standpoint.

"I…I do not care anymore…" Imperatrix gained a tone of color in her cheeks, batting her eyes coquettishly beneath the bangs. "Won't you stay with me, Darling Mine?"

The tall man became a touch timorous, reddening at the swelling of agape making the decision for him. "How can I say no…when you look at me like that?"

The lights were turned off and the chancellor sat on the bed, redressing for a different purpose now. Being skin to skin with his lover was sublime, but watching her shiver in his embrace through the night wasn't.

"No, no! Leave it." The princess snuck her arms around his chest when Ardyn leaned forward to pull on his pants, tugging him backwards into her.

"You will get sick." He didn't put too much effort into resisting, kicking off the trousers he barely got on at her insistence.

"I will not. Now come here." She managed to get the hefty man to the middle of the bed, breath catching at the effort.

"So spoiled and demanding!" He twisted to lay properly on his side.

"I am a princess, that is to be expected." Imperatrix snuggled into him with the covers.

"It is and I shall be answering your every beck and call, Your Highness. You have my most steadfast vow." Ardyn sighed at the press of the smaller body to his. "Are you sure I shouldn't dress? You've gotten used to moderate climate here in Lucis. This be-"

"I want to be close to you." She insisted. "Besides, am I not warm enough to counter your chill?"

"You certainly are."

"Then there is no need to worry, only to enjoy. I am and so should you."

"As you command, Dearest Musa."

The red head wasn't drained enough magically to need sleep and he didn't want to risk a nightmare ruing this, so the chancellor burrowed close to the ephemeral human, peppering her with affection. This would be another night of just watching her and being grateful that he could once again do so.

The scent and feel of her was so soothing, so peaceful for his tainted soul.

His plans…his revenge, both were looking dimmer by the minute. One path, one destiny laid out for him. A vulnerable, little mortal whom Ardyn loved dearly was making him reconsider things already set out for centuries.

Oh, Imperatrix…

She was his weakness.


	19. Chapter 19 (Nyx Mature AO3 Content)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Time flies for real! I can't believe how long I've worked on this story and how big it's gotten. VVV is my longest work now and still going strong. Yeah!

I want to thank everyone for reading and reviewing. Dearest readers, you may not believe you all are a part of the writing process, but you are, so you deserve some recognition too. Sometimes you all point out things I never think of, or bring up interesting additions, or magically guess where I'm going with things. You all offer up support and encouragement. You show dedication and love. So again, thank you for joining the journey.

Totally unapologetic for how long these chapters keep churning out, even though it's agonizing to edit them.

 **Mature Content on AO3**

 **Mandarin**

 **Huangd** i- Emperor. A self-invented title from Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"I know the feeling of a brand new weapon in your hands is invigorating, but please, do be careful. Both amateurs and experts can find themselves in dire situations." Imperatrix pleaded to Nyx and Lunafreya, the eager ones testing out their new equipment with childish zeal.

Genius came through with her order.

A versatile, silver longbow rimmed with glowing, gold accents of light-based runes was for Nyx. The item could switch between a bow firing energy arrows, to dual blades sharp and hot enough to cut through the thickest daemon hide.

On one side of the middle of the bow was a small indent for a crystal. For now, one was empty and the other filled with a yellow gem to power the weapon. At max, two elements could be infused into the arrows.

The young scientist was very proud of the new experiment, one of his first ventures into transformable weaponry.

A grey quarterstaff featuring two options of blades was for Lunafreya. On one end a trident and the other a spear-head, both retractable and summonable by twisting the handles. Both ends were color-coded. Violet around the gear for the spear, gold around the gear for the trident.

This weapon didn't have components for elemental effects since Imperatrix assumed the oracle would imbue the item with her own magic. No need to cause any interference between crystals and the girl's magic.

Both magitek weapons were lethal to humans and daemons alike.

Seeing the glaive and oracle's surprised faces morph into joyous ones upon deliverance of the equipment made the sum worth it. Protected and happy, that was how her companions should be.

"You should not be giving my sister a weapon anyway." Ravus crossed his arms, watching Lunafreya twirl the polearm efficiently, twisting the handle as shown to bring out the spear.

He was both impressed and disturbed to see her in this light. What happened to the little girl that depended on him?

Who was this woman?

She dressed somewhat like his sister, white laced dress, jewelry, messy ponytail…but there were new things. The oracle wore leggings underneath her dress for modesty and movement. Gone were the heels, replaced with flats. An arm guard covered the jagged scar she received from a Queen Bee.

His sister…but not…

"Would you have her defenseless?" Imperatrix asked rhetorically, bumping shoulders with the sour-puss. "Remember, you agreed to observe her skills. I assure you, my training is adequate for your standards."

It took a meltdown and Lunafreya threatening to sneak into the mine herself for the Elder Fleuret to agree and he didn't do it out of the kindness of his heart, but because he truly believed his sister was too weak to succeed.

How idiotic of him, looking at the girl with those dismissive eyes. It emboldened the oracle, not scared her off like it might have before.

Blind and stupid from sibling love, that would be Imperatrix as well if she didn't learn the value of listening. A closed-off person like Ravus wouldn't get how much he undermined himself with his behavior.

Hopefully, these days together would improve Fleuret relations.

"We shall see, Impera." The high commander refuted, entering the gated section before the Balouve Mines.

If Lunafreya collapsed from exhaustion before they cleared the dungeon, custody of her returned to him. The princess wouldn't stop him from taking his sister home and the girl, herself wouldn't pitch a fit about it.

Getting her home would be easier than he thought.

No way could his frail sibling clear the mines. He knew for a fact how difficult it was for her to do minor things and it was the reason he took so much time off from work to monitor her.

How many promotions did he mis out on thanks that? And what did he receive for his consideration? A sister's spite.

Ungrateful cherub.

Not that long ago, Lunafreya could barely complete her walks with Pryna and Umbra. How many times did the maids rush out to retrieve her after hearing the dogs bark? Finding the girl prone in the garden and unresponsive?

Too many times!

Church work dwindled to her delegating much of the tasks to the cardinals and making scarce appearances for mass. At this point, the Holy Mother would become the Holy Father from how much those black-garbed priests controlled the cathedral.

The only thing she didn't shirk on was her healing of Starscourge. That got her out of bed and into action no matter what, smile plastered on her face and kindness bursting from her countenance for every supplicant.

If for years his sister struggled to do these simple things without getting sick and weak, uninspired to even get out of bed, how could she accomplish a dungeon clearing?

Lunafreya mastering the dark caverns? The idea of it was absurd! Even some of his soldiers might have trouble with the daemons known to inhabit the crevices of caves.

No, this was his win. The blackmail plan was unnecessary.

"Did either of you hear a word I said?" The princess snapped her finger as she would when demanding her soldier's attention.

Nyx and Lunafreya startled, one guiltily collapsing their polearm and giving precedence to Imperatrix. The other one grinned breezily, bow slung over his shoulder.

"Yes, Mom. We heard you." The glaive drawled, wrangling the blonde around playfully. "I'm not gonna get the kiddo killed."

"You are both insufferable with this playacting." The oracle frowned too cutely for it to be considered anything but a pout, widening the "parents" smiles.

"Aww, she's hitting the rebellious phase." Nyx chortled as his captive fled.

"Oho? Has that not been her natural state?" The princess teased, gaining louder guffawing from him.

The glaive and princess trekked after the Lunafreya, mindful of the railroad tracks leading to the entrance of the mine where Ravus was clutching his prosthetic arm. His sister approached him, but he brushed her worry off.

With the last two joining the siblings, they all set forth into Balouve.

Abruptly, the atmosphere went from hot and sunny to dark and dank. Luminance came from the heavenly-blessed Fleurets, fair-haired angels glowing in the dark.

"Woah. Ravus does the glory thing too?" Nyx lifted his new visor sunglasses that let him see in the darkness, blinking at the Fleurets.

"Stop talking." He replied brusquely, inwardly seething over the useless abilities granted to him as blood of the first oracle.

Why were the boys not blessed with magic?

"Is this how we are to enter the mines?" Lunafreya fidgeted next to her brother.

The elevator was old and unlike anything she'd seen in the empire. Where were the buttons? Why did it look so old and rickety?

"Do not be afraid. It works." Imperatrix took one side of the doors while the high commander got the other end.

Both pulled open the doors, flinching at the loud screech produced by their efforts. Dust flew out when the elevator was fully propped open. Coughing ensued from this outflow.

"Ladies first." Nyx goaded, hand outstretched for the oracle to get on. "Unless you need Dad to hold your hand?"

"No thank you." She hurriedly rejected, stepping into the small space and holding up a hand to produce more light. "I am not afraid."

The glaive doubted that, but didn't push the matter. He got in next, oracle squished in between him and the high commander. Imperatrix hit the button for the lower floor on the nearby module, joining the cluttered batch. It was a tight fit with the four of them. They managed to get the doors closed again in the small space with a minimal amount of accidental elbowing and an ample amount of noise.

Conscious of the proximity of a sturdy body behind her, the princess clenched her jaw. She felt extremely skittish with Nyx lodged so close. Heart pounding and nerves bubbling, Imperatrix wanted off, fast, before she lost the ability to breathe.

Why was he making her so excitable? Did him holding her have such a profound effect on her emotions? No, no, it had to be the alcoholic kisses making her bask in immature giddiness!

His lips burned her…burned her bad!

Or was it…the dream? That scorching fantasy…

It got darker and colder as the elevator went down, potent enough that Lunafreya's magic dimmed to the soft ray of a lantern versus the blaze of a high beam. She fidgeted more, aware that her frazzled mind was affecting the magic more than the efficacy of shadow. Every creak of the metal and every second in the cramped space chilled the oracle.

Last time on an elevator…King Regis was with her. Bandaging his hand kept her mind off the confinement. She felt safe with him, reminded of good days, of a father gone too soon and at the edge of her memories. King Raphael…his face, voice, smell, everything about him eluded her…

There was nothing to distract her this time. She was trapped. Imprisonment was all the girl knew. She didn't want to go back to it!

No more locked doors!

"What's wrong kid?" Nyx took in the pale hand gripping his coat sleeve.

Lunafreya shut her eyes, a white statue. The light faded from her palm and it sunk to her side.

"Don't touch her!" Ravus hissed, plucking his sister from the glaive and gathering her into a familiar encirclement.

Sylleblossoms…he smelled like home…

His magic felt like home…

"Don't snatch her like that, jerk! She's not a toy!" He argued, getting up close to the high commander.

" _My sister_ is of no concern to you!" The platinum blonde cradled Lunafreya closer, a choking hold.

"Stop it!" Imperatrix separated the males, rocking the elevator and swiftly ending the spat. "There will be no in-fighting like children."

The males scoffed, turning up their noses to the other.

Lunafreya's sudden depression went unquestioned, but Ravus did keep her in his embrace, rubbing her arm to add some heat to her skin. Unknown to him, she was recalling every instance of the elder Fleuret locking her in rooms as punishments.

The elevator finally coming to a halt saved the oracle from her misery. She was the first one off after the doors were plied open.

"Lunafreya do not wander too far ahead." Imperatrix hurried to keep up with the blonde. "Keep a level head if you wish to impress your brother."

She slowed down.

The mission. Focus on that. Not the confinement. Not the isolation. Not the mania.

"My apologies."

The princess smiled reassuringly. "Boys are aggravating. Just ignore them and you will preform spectacularly."

That wasn't why she dashed out, but better to let Imperatrix think so. The oracle nodded, readjusting her grip on the staff.

She could sense daemons.

"Shall I take the lead, or you?" Ravus put to the woman not dressed in white for once, as an imperial princess was supposed to be, but garbed in Persian silks of dusky violet.

She hardly looked Gralean like that. What was with all these womanly changes? First his sister and now his childhood menace.

All that long hair and embroidered fabrics were completely at odds with the boyish army brat he knew. So much change was giving him a headache.

Nyx snorted, muttering to himself. "This guy… I really had the wrong opinion of Impera. She's a saint compared to the rest."

Psychopath retainers, eccentric chancellors, freakish scientists, and big-headed commanders. Niflheim didn't have much going for it.

"I believe Lunafreya should take point." The princess proffered, laying an approving hand on the girl's shoulder. "She is the one you are assessing."

Ravus stared, as if the concept was so absurd he need not even voice his disbelief.

"Please stop being difficult." She in turn deadpanned.

"Fine. Put the squad's life in the hands of an amateur." The high commander conceded haughtily.

Ignoring the urge to slap a certain platinum-blonde, Imperatrix gestured for Lunafreya to go forward. She took the lead and the others formed around her.

They followed the train tracks, avoiding the carts, barrels, and supplies laid about. By the looks of the maker symbols, imperials already travelled through for stock.

Who was stationed in Lucis to complete this kind of work? The division had to be adequately skilled to brave a daemon dwelling.

Lunafreya screamed at a sudden loud whirring noise, ducking down for an attack that didn't come. Nyx had a similar reaction. Ravus and Imperatrix were the ones unsurprised, pointing out the cause.

A ventilation fan.

The glaive unsuccessfully laughed it off while the oracle sighed.

Another shock came soon.

Nyx shouted for everybody to move. A cart zipped by the four at breakneck speed. Females on one side and males on the other, the opposites gawked incredulously down the hall until the moving object couldn't be heard.

"I'm having second thoughts about this. Too scary movie for my liking." The glaive uttered, examining his surroundings for more bombshells.

"It cannot be that dangerous if soldiers were able to set up a supply line." Imperatrix deduced, becoming paranoid herself.

There was no way the cart could have moved on its own. No recent tracks were in the dirt when they entered, meaning only night creatures could have snuck behind them.

She could think of one branch of daemons mischievous and lunatic enough to run them over. The wicked little things brought to mind her own devious red head.

Funny how Ardyn could enact terrifying pranks on people, but he, himself abhorred scary movies. Especially anything of a psychedelic nature.

The walking contradiction.

"How did the cart move? I saw it locked in place." Lunafreya aired to the room. "Did we trip it?"

She looked down at the track for a lever or something. That was how they functioned right?

"Daemons, Luna." Ravus stated simply.

"Oh…I did sense them…"

"And you said nothing?"

She flushed, getting defensive. "They were further from us…and then…not. I was not sure what to make of it."

"Imps can teleport." The high commander informed her blandly. "This is basic information even the general populace knows. Have you truly learned as much as Imperatrix boasts?"

"More than I did with you." Lunafreya mouthed off, then froze as she realized who she'd done it too.

"Ever onwards my friends!" Imperatrix declared, diverting a clash with her spirited posture.

Ravus twitched, sneer and laugh warping his face as he looked between the females.

"Wow. I thought your friend was joking about your habits. Guess not." Nyx regarded the princess unsurely.

Amused or gross-out, he couldn't decide. The mediator of the group appeared to feel the same way towards him from her withering appraisal.

So romantic how they managed to be on the same wavelength most the time.

"I will not be chastened by you. The _idiot_ with a catchphrase for every encounter when we were in Insomnia." She challenged.

"I'm a _hero_ , I get to do that!"

"And I am a _princess_ , my status trumps yours! Therefore, my words are sacred, whereas yours are puerile."

"Six! You're just as vain as me, woman!"

"I was wrong to believe myself free from inane talk with this group." Ravus remarked, sweeping past the squabbling glaive and princess. "Was it not you who remonstrated 'in-fighting', Imperatrix?"

She held her tongue from issuing out more degrades to Nyx.

"I think we can make an exception for you." The Galahdian murmured, getting pushed for the comment. "C'mon! You know you want to."

Imperatrix shook her head, continuing to push him forward.

More caution seeped into the group's exploration. Carts mysteriously persisted in almost running them over in their advancement. Nyx's good hearing kept them ahead of the game, safe from being mowed down.

It was at the end of the second floor their tormentors finally showed.

"Of course it is Imps waylaying us." Ravus's metal arm glinted with energy as he electrocuted a daemon in his grasp, dismissive of its screeching.

These low level nuisances weren't worth drawing Alba Leonis.

Imperatrix was of a similar mindset. She didn't engage the enemy, permitting Lunafreya to handle the few tricksters. The girl defeated all but one.

"I don't think so buddy." Nyx loosed an arrow into the Imp that jumped off the railing to attack the oracle, turning it to miasma upon contact. "Hoh, this is awesome!"

He gave the bow another admiring, playing with the drawstring. Consider him a believer!

The glaive wanted to call bullshit when Genius explained the mechanics of an energy-based bow. Feats like that were only possible by Lucian artifacts magically enhanced by the royal family.

His obtuse mindset was officially debunked.

The Nephilim had their own mystics going on. Color him impressed.

"There is a way down over here." Imperatrix announced, kneeling by the rocks jutting out the ground to emit fire energy that colored the passage red.

"What are you doing?" Lunafreya bent next to the princess, tilting her head at the object being stuck into the magma portion of the stones.

Crimson liquid poured into a bottle from the siphon.

"Gathering the magic portion for our prestigious _magitek_." She carefully stored the bottle into the supply bag strapped to her, repeating the process for two more bottles.

"How do you use it?" The oracle thought people like Noctis, chosen ones by the gods, were the only people capable of using magic.

It never occurred to her that natural stores of the land could be harnessed and used. Did Ravus do this too? Was that how his arm worked?

Could everyone use magic like this?

"We imbue cores and crystals with this, which we then outfit in weapons, armor, airships, and other things for higher functioning. I, however, am not an expert on the matter. If you wish to know more, ask Izzy or Ardyn. They are the experts on alchemy."

"How fascinating." Lunafreya stared at her staff, looking for the mentioned crystal.

She wasn't the primary one intrigued. Nyx stored this new information, finding it not all that different from how they used the deposits.

A lot of Kingsglaive members used flasks containing magic as a quick solution in a fight when the mages weren't available. One little jar could unleash a blizzard, thunderstorm, or firestorm.

Dangerous stuff.

Lucky for him, Nyx was nifty enough with warps and combat that he didn't need to rely on flasks. There was also an incident were he accidentally froze his legs by dropping a bottle while training with Luche and Libertus. He then had to wait for Crowe to unfreeze him. The misfortune completely turned the man off from the volatile products.

Literals blue-balls wasn't fun. Those two clowned his ass for weeks over that mishap. Assholes.

Libertus…that oaf. What was he doing now? Drinking out their bar? Slouching in front of his tv?

He needed to call the lug…and his mom. Talking to her would be difficult as hell.

"Thank you for waiting. We can move on." Imperatrix stood.

The third floor held no carts accidents, but the level did catch Ravus off guard with water randomly pouring from the ceiling. He cursed at his spare clothing getting wet and saved the more creative expletives for his metallic arm being subjected to the liquid.

"Uh, is that thing gonna short-circuit and kill us all if it keeps getting wet?" Nyx probed after back-stepping a water leak. "We're like, primed for an electric bath."

The dirt had gave way to a knee-level pool that they were all wading through.

A condescending glare was given as an answer to the glaive.

"Everybody should keep a distance from the big guy. Don't wanna get fried."

Before Nyx could laugh at his joke, an Imp launched into him. He yelped, haphazardly firing as water softened his fall. The arrow managed to get the creature's arm and it teleported.

Since the passage was too narrow for Lunafreya's polearm, she called for the princess. Imperatrix used a short blade connected to her gauntlet to dispose of the Imp, ending the battle in seconds. The victorious woman held out a hand for her fallen comrade.

"No jokes, Princess?" He hopped up with her help, shrugging off the wetness.

No point in bitching about his soggy clothes after ragging on Ravus.

"I like you on your back." Imperatrix quipped without too much thought. "Now if only you would kneel."

Nyx barked out a laugh, fixing his visor to leer over the rim at her. "I think we've established who's the alpha, hun."

What did that mean? Obviously her. She was the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.

The high commander biding them forward forestalled the princess correcting the glaive.

At a junction they found more tracks.

"Wait for it." Nyx stood off to the side, comically waiting for a cart to come.

He got what he wanted and more. The passengers sprung out for a fight.

"Your flapping mouth tempts things again." The princess sighed, tired of the Imps interference.

"Give me a break! I don't want them showing up every second either!"

This time Ravus cleared the enemies in one swing of his rapier, re-sheathing the blade at the finale of the arc. "This is so tedious."

"Everyone has participated now." Lunafreya noted, hiding the look of awe for her brother's skills when he glanced her way. "Which way should we go?"

Two paths loomed before them.

"That is up to you. Command has been given to you." Imperatrix pronounced.

The oracle studied both ways, recounting the foes they faced. "We should…split up."

"Why? You do realize dividing a group lessens its strength?" The high commander badgered.

"Imps alone have appeared and I do not sense anything stronger. Even in twos we should be safe."

"Highly optimistic. There could be a number of things to go wrong that two people might not be able to handle. Your senses are not to be trusted either, daemons have a way of playing tricks on the mind."

Lunafreya iced over with fury at her brother's berating.

"Nevertheless, Imperatrix and I are capable enough to handle unforeseen complications. I do not oppose your suggestion." He flicked some dirt off his elegant frock. "The faster we finish, the better."

She lost the edge. Did he…try to critique her just then? Not belittle her? Far more abrasive than the princess, but it did sound like constructive advise.

"Should anything go wrong we have communication abilities." Imperatrix hit a button on her headgear, testing the connection. "The comm is stable."

The new model Genius gave her worked more efficiently than the spare from Nebula, which she'd chipped on the glass portion of the screen, earning the gunman's temporary ire. The tense moment of handing him the gear and receiving his frigid glower made her feel infinitely small.

Her communication and visual equipment also had the benefit of being a cute accessory.

Headgear shaped in the Aldercapt emblem, glorious dragons of white and black on the side, it appealed to her tastes. The beast's wings angled out as they were made the woman appear distinctly draconian, similar to the old generation of mortals that bore half-human, half-animal characteristics.

The lost period of demigods…the Mythic Age.

"Which way will you go?" Ravus asked the princess.

"Left I suppose." Imperatrix checked to see if Nyx had any complaints.

He shrugged. It went unsaid that the high commander would accompany the oracle.

"Right for us then." He went in the chosen direction, sister trailing behind him.

"Call on the comm if anything happens!" Imperatrix yelled before they got out of hearing range, pointing to her ear when Lunafreya looked back. "You remember how to use it?!"

"Yes, I remember!" The oracle poked at the basic earpiece and then gave a thumbs up as she'd been taught to do by Nyx.

She and Ravus disappeared and it darkened.

"You and me now, Impera."

"Yes, so no foolhardy actions, if it please you." The princess took the lead, arm ready to trigger the wrist blade.

"Me? Never!" He sniggered.

Not even a few minutes into walking the corridor, they were ambushed by an Imp springing out a stationary cart they approached. It knocked Imperatrix to the ground. She stabbed it before spindly fingers could touch her.

Nyx helped the woman to her feet with a little bit of wheedling and promptly got pushed for it, commencing a bout of tussling for a few minutes until she ran off with the glaive on her heels. Fortunate for them they weren't bothered during this impromptu game.

The two eventually slowed down, catching their bearing.

Now that they were alone, Nyx wondered if this was a good time to bring up something just as important as his condition. Though, this wasn't the best atmosphere.

He mussed his hair in frustration. Sitting on it was bothering him and the longer it went unacknowledged, the worse things could get.

"Hey, Impera?" The glaive called.

She came to a halt at the end of the hall. A large, lighted, factory section waited behind her.

His eyes widened and Nyx froze, previous topic abolished from his mind.

"What is it?" She whirled around, searching for whatever spooked the fearless man, but found nothing out of the ordinary. "What is wrong?"

"You didn't see that?!" He whispered frantically, grabbing her to crash their bodies to the wall, crouched and hidden from view of the terrifying enemy.

At the end of the tracks Nyx saw a black-clothed wraith waiting to kill them with a blade glinting off its shoulders.

"Saw what?"

"The goddam Grim Reaper!"

"That is impossible." Imperatrix worriedly assessed the man, laying a hand on his arm and feeling the disfigured skin underneath his coat. "Do you need to take a break?"

They'd been exploring for more than an hour. She needed to be more attentive of Nyx with his condition looming overhead. Who knew how much time he had left and accelerating that clock with these kinds of expeditions daunted her.

Alas…the glaive wasn't the type to sit around. Excluding him was useless, he'd find something else dangerous to do. Too much of busybody like her.

"I'm fine." The glaive took his eyes off the spot ahead to give her the stink eye. " I can't believe your pagan butt is trying to tell me a Death God doesn't exist."

"That is not what I meant. It is impossible because all the gods, save the Astrals, left this plane or died out. This is no longer the Age of Gods and Mythology." The princess moved her hand up his arm to squeeze his shoulder in retaliation, fingernails digging into the fabric. "And who are you calling 'pagan'? Do you not worship your lunar gods, Fenrir and Selene, hypocrite?"

Nyx clicked his tongue. "Score one for you."

The Insomnians gave him a hard time for believing outside the Six, but he refused to give up that aspect of Galahdian culture when he moved to the crown city. He left his home to protect it, not lose every trace of it and submerse himself in his new dwelling's customs.

Wasn't it enough he adopted the Astrals into his religion? He didn't need to give up his Galahdian traditions to recognize only them.

Imperatrix hummed exultantly.

"But I'm telling you, I saw him!" The glaive stepped towards the bridge, keeping vigilance for a robbed death-bringer.

"Let us hope you did not. You and I are unqualified to kill a deity."

Imperatrix found herself suspicious now from how grave her companion was in his defensive progress, bow at the ready for anything. Halfway across the elevated bridge of tracks, she glimpsed the fiend.

"Nyx!" She murmured, latching onto the back of his coat.

"See, see?! I told you so!"

The black wraith walked towards them, stepping into a beam of light cast by the ventilation fan.

Inhuman purple skin, a dark, intricate kimono, vaguely human features, and an unseemly long sword. Their enemy very much gave the impression of a murderous entity.

Paralyzed with fear, the glaive and princess couldn't move. Never before had either encountered this kind of foe. It came to a standstill in front of them, blade lifting off its shoulder.

The killer moment ended, cancelled by the adversary disappearing like it was never there. In its place was a mine cart to ram full speed into the frozen couple.

They flew from the impact. Nyx landed on top of Imperatrix, dazed from taking the brute of the collision.

Maniac cackling reverberated in the room from the Imps as they continued on their ride, intent to torment some more humans.

"Freaking evil shits! I'm gonna kill every last one!" The glaive shouted, enraged at the twisted game they were subjected to.

He coughed afterwards, chest aching from the hit.

"Nyx! Let me see if you broke something." The princess pressed her hands gently to his body, checking for tender spots.

"I'm cool, just winded." He assured at the end of his coughing fit, leaning on her shoulders and dipping his head to her height. "You're more than welcome to keep touching me though."

She had a retort prepared, but it died out. "Look out!"

The wraith swung its blade, missing a killing blow from Imperatrix's interference. It did succeed in knocking them off the bridge.

Glaive and princess screamed as they fell. Imperatrix used the other feature of her gauntlet, launching a hook to stop their fall. They swayed, crashing into the railing and then dangling precariously.

"Is that going to hold?" Nyx wheezed, holding onto the woman tightly.

He had the worst luck! Why was it he pretty much only got close to her in life or death situations?!

"It will…" She hissed out, jaw gritted stiffly. "But my arm will not!"

"Oh, shit. I did hear something pop." The glaive dropped his head onto her shoulder, exhaling morosely. "I hoped that noise came from my bag or yours."

She probably dislocated her shoulder when the wire caught them. Were it not for his weight, that might not have happened.

"Release the wire."

"N-No w-way." Imperatrix was huffing at this point, sweat gathering on her forehead.

"We're not that far from the ground. Besides." Nyx lifted his face, looking her directly in the eye. "Do you want to wait for that creep to cut the line?"

She sighed, getting a better grip on his waist and he in turn squeezed around her neck.

"This is backwards, you know? _I'm_ supposed to be holding _you_."

"Brace yourself." Imperatrix flouted his bellyaching.

She clicked the button, ejecting the wire. They fell the rest of the way down, tucking into rolls and then battle ready positions out of habit. Their instincts were right.

More Imps materialized to terrorize them.

"Let's go you bastards! I've had enough of you." Nyx laid into the daemons with his bow-daggers.

Imperatrix drew her sword, blade movements slower since one arm pained her too much to use. She was still more than a match for the weak creatures.

Once cleared out, the princess clutched her aching arm.

"Your turn. Let Dad see."

She let Nyx examine her.

"Yup, that's dislocated." He grimaced, highly empathizing with the pain Imperatrix was about to undergo. "Want me to pop it in place?"

The glaive would take a bullet over a dislocation any day, which was no exaggeration because he'd experienced both. Plus the explosive shrapnel thing Luche used on him.

Uhh…

Maybe he needed to rethink that. Luche's gun was agony.

Dislocation or explosive bullet? Hard to pick.

"Have you done this before?"

"Too many times to count. People popped their shoulders repeatedly when practicing warping." Nyx led the princess to a stairway, making sure she was seated comfortably before getting in place for the procedure. "Warping actually came with a lot of risks."

"The few times I warped with you were the absolute worst! Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to that intense displacement and nausea?"

"Cause in the end it's pretty freaking swank to just dip around, shanking everyone before they realize what's happening."

"You make a good case." Imperatrix looked to make sure Nyx wasn't putting on airs and knew what he was doing. "I still would opt out of that skill."

Sadly, he wasn't a noob to this. There was no error in his posture.

"Don't I always, babe?" He winked for good measure, then got stone-faced. "You ready?"

The princess groaned, closed her eyes, compressed her jaw, and finally nodded.

Nyx expected a scream of the pitchiest magnitude at the end of his countdown and execution of the pop, but all Imperatrix let out was a muffled squeal that descended into whimpering. Opposite end of the spectrum like usual with her.

"Uh…it's okay. It's over." The glaive awkwardly patted the woman on the back. "Suck it up, hun."

He'd could've dealt with screaming or cursing, crying however, just stumped him. Crowe never cried, nor did Selena. Maybe he hung out with too many dudes. His experience with weeping woman was limited to ones left disappointed by him and they usually decided that injuring the flaky man was a better reaction to him cancelling future dates.

Imperatrix wasn't a quick fling or thorny attachment he wanted out of though.

"By the gods! Your bedside manner is horrendous!" She grouched, laying her head in Nyx's lap with the rest of her body bunched up in a fetal position, impatiently trembling through the pain.

Ardyn would've held her, cooing sweet things. Like he did at Aracheole. She didn't register much of it, but his soft tone and safe embrace said what she couldn't hear.

Goddammit it all…she was spoiled and ridiculous! But there was nothing wrong with wanting to be pampered by someone dear to the heart, no matter the age!

"Clearly you like my 'bedside manner'." The sexual undertone in that flooded her and the princess jolted up.

"You want to bring that up now?!"

"It's not like we're going anywhere. We gotta wait for Luna to heal you." Nyx lifted his visor since the fans from above were providing enough light to not need them. "Speaking of, let me call her on the line."

Dammit! Out of everyone present, how did she acquire the first critical injury?!

Saving Nyx of course! And he had the nerve to tease her most inappropriately!

"Fortuitous man…" She mumbled, retaking her seat.

Imperatrix endangered herself for his sake because he was significant to her. For the right people she would shoulder the world.

Unfortunately, she couldn't help him in the most momentous way.

"They're on their way. They found the elevator at the end of their section." Nyx sat down next to her. "I told them not to follow our path. Wouldn't want their souls getting reaped."

"That was no Shinigami, but a daemon."

"A daemon?! I've never seen one like that."

"In Yasu there are creatures similar to the one we encountered." Imperatrix thought hard on the pictures Euphemia's retainer showed her. "I believe that one was an Aramusha."

Kaguya spun wild tales of the legendary Daemon Five of Yasu.

Ronin, Yojimbo, Kengo, Aramusha, and Ayakashi. They were the slayers of man. Very rarely did people live to tell the tale of an encounter with one of the five.

Ayakashi in particular was shrouded in mystery, the most powerful and dangerous of them.

Thank the heavens that daemon wasn't the one to almost kill them.

"Daemons are almost as diverse as humans. You think you've seen them all and then see something new. What a crazy world!"

Imperatrix tensed at Nyx's observation. He hit very close to home without realizing it.

Nebula said she was abnormal for loving daemons…but did it count as unnatural if they were humans to begin with? Did all etches of humanity die out when they transformed? She wasn't sure. Some daemons didn't appear entirely monstrous, retaining semi-humanoid shapes. Their behavior switched between violent and uninterested, same as a humans.

They were so hard to pin down in her opinion. Dangerous or misunderstood?

Unanswered questions prevented Imperatrix from full-out killing any night prowlers she stumbled upon.

"Don't go exploring. You've only got one functioning arm." Nyx cautioned as he got up to follow the princess.

He couldn't make a sling out of anything and a potion might heal it wrong. She really didn't need to be moving around.

"I merely wish to inspect the wall. We did come here for ore." She smiled at the glittering bits of silver impeded in the rocks.

"You got tools to get them out?"

"Of course." Imperatrix slid the supply bag off, pulling out the necessary mining tools.

The glaive took what he needed. At the princess joining him, he made an obnoxious noise of refusal, physically spinning her around and pushing the woman away from labor.

"But it will go faster if I help you."

"Hell no! Sit down and be a girl for once." He regretted that as soon as it came out.

"I know you mean well, but do you hear the misogyny that flows like a current from you?"

"That was asshole of me. I own up to that." Nyx raised his hand in apology. He then bumped their foreheads together. "Please just sit down."

Flustered, she did as requested. The princess posted herself on top of a flat rock to observe the glaive and any potential ambushes.

Unbidden, her mind wandered to the tattoos hidden under Nyx's shirt after he took off the coat for ease of mobility.

Those inked paintings were nice to admire. She recalled a wolf flexing and moving with its master.

Tattooing her own body was out of the question, far too risqué for a princess. The most she could get away with was the multiple piercings in her ears. Those were highly illogical for a person in the military. Not to mention against regulation.

No on ever called her out on wearing multiple studs though and she didn't take them out despite the risk. Call it a small rebellion. If she couldn't have long hair, then Imperatrix would settle for body jewelry.

Ludicrous senators!

How did making her dress and behave like a boy accomplish anything?! Greedy throne-seeking fools just wanted to embarrass her and slight the emperor.

"Want me to take off my clothes? Cause you're eyeing the hellfire out of me." Nyx grinned roguishly at the woman combing through her hair with her fingers.

Her eyes were a fervid blue of quartzes. Just like the crystal of Lucis, numinous and flickering with hues.

The attention was very welcome. Playing it cool for the sake of everyone else not gossiping was alright, but she was a little too good at being normal. Her pretend skills were top notch.

"Nyx…since you want to get into this…" Imperatrix evaded the blatant come-on, giving him her full devotion this time because she hadn't been paying him any mind as he thought. "I am concerned about something and wish for clarification."

He dusted off his hands, depositing the latest batch of ore into the kit. "Go for it."

Count on the princess to go for the jugular. Her forthrightness would save him some sweating.

"You may not know this about me, associating it mainly with my father, but I am not a monogamous person." She frowned slightly, piecing together certain information. "You became intimate with me knowing I was beholden to someone else."

He was incredibly wrong as to who it was though. Certainly not Nebula, he was more or less a brother to her. A dysfunctional one…

She had many dysfunctional pseudo brothers…

"Answer me. Were your actions out of malicious envy for what was not yours or unquenchable affection for me?"

Her whole spiel was a lot to process for Nyx. One, cause it was long and he blanked out for some of it. Two, cause she spoke even more imperiously than King Regis and it annoyed him to decrypt her words.

Would it kill her to dumb down her speeches? How long would it take for Imperatrix talk like common folk?

She and Lunafreya still talked all high and mighty despite being around people that conversed normally. Nobody needed the fancy eloquence.

Did they have to be such princesses?

"Ugh, I barely got anything out of that!" The glaive rubbed his head, migraine forming. "You want to know if it was just sex or something more, yeah?"

"That is one aspect of it, yes, but—" The princess felt a shot of dread replace the exasperation as she fully registered what Nyx said. "What did you say?!"

He looked at her like a screw came loose in her brain. "I used simple words, unlike you. I know you heard me."

Why was she freaking out? Weren't they on the same page?

"We did not consummate anything!"

" _Yes_ , we did."

"No! You stopped and that was the end of it." Imperatrix distinctly recalled that, followed by her sleeping.

Unless…the dream…

Oh…ohhhh…

"I did! Then you insisted you were fine and right there on the couch, we went at it." Now Nyx was highly upset. "Are you telling me you don't remember that?!"

She better be playing hard-to-get. He couldn't deal with them crashing and burning. The pining he'd been subjected to since meeting Imperatrix was unbearable.

There wasn't anyone else like her.

All the stupid shit he did to get her favor! The glaive wouldn't accept all that culminating in another failed relationship. He had too many of those under his belt already.

"N-No…I t-thought…" She covered her flaming face, whimpering from unconsciously using her injured arm.

"Watch it! Don't make it worse!" Nyx steadied her on the rock, temper cooling a bit at the reminder that she was in pain. "You really…don't remember?"

He was kneeled before her, insecure and every bit an animal prepared to flee. Another moment of real vulnerability he allowed her to witness.

Her heart permitted only honesty in return for this. "I thought that portion…a reverie, not reality. But if you say it is true, then I believe you."

"A dream?" Nyx snorted into her thigh, sputtering out. "Man, you're something else!"

This development would be news for Ardyn. The debauched man would want a detailed recounting of the incident.

How in the world had she confused it for sleepy illusions? Maybe her sobriety wasn't as firm as she assumed.

"Was _this_ the other important discussion you wanted to have with me?" Overcome with an urge to touch him, Imperatrix ran her fingers through Nyx's shorter locks.

While his old hairstyle was rugged and reminded her of the Danes, she did like this new haircut, complimented by his beard. So striking and strong…

"Sort of…" He was distracted by her caressing his head and his illicit thoughts.

"What else—"

"I didn't use anything!" The glaive blurted out in a moment of clarity from the replay of their night, falling on his bottom to cradle his head for the impulsive stupidity the body could be guilty of. "Aw, shit…"

Flummoxed, Imperatrix didn't know what to say. She was confused.

Use what? Enhancements? Toys? Role-plays?

What a vague statement…

"If uh…if you turn out to be…" Nyx sporadically motioned to her body, losing his nerve at the end as the weight of it hit him.

First the cancer, then this. Damn, life was crazy!

"Please speak plainly. I do not understand." The princess's foot dug circles in the dirt, abstaining from any more flares of emotion from herself.

He and Ardyn did too much to her poor heart.

"I didn't use a condom, Impera."

"A what?"

"Are you fuc—" Nyx bounded up, blatantly gesturing to her stomach. "A condom! You know, the thing that prevents conception?!"

"Oh! It is a contraceptive?"

"How do you not know that?!" He was just shy of flipping out on her, because why was this line of conversation turning out to be more exhausting than his cancer topic?!

Slowly dying from an incurable disease? Easy peasy for him lay out to her. An unexpected pregnancy from a night of unprotected sex? Damned impossible and she kept throwing him for a loop!

"He doesn't use it, so why would I?!" Imperatrix countered in the same aggravated tone.

She'd always gotten injections since the pill option was time-consuming and easily forgettable with her demanding schedule. A simple poke into the skin and she was ninety-nine percent safe from unplanned pregnancies for three months.

So painless compared to chugging pills every morning.

Plus, the injection had the added benefit of reducing the monthly cycle output and its symptoms. All the females of the group got them.

Ardyn never had a need to use contraceptives since she was on one and the man took precaution a step further by repeatedly practicing coitus interruptus at the peak of their relations. It infuriated her that he did so, one due to the abrupt pain and second because it was downright insulting.

She wasn't some brothel whore to toss coins at, but a damned princess of royal blood and the woman he loved! She should be treated as such!

"I can't believe a princess is so irresponsible. Do you want to get pregnant?!" Nyx couldn't fathom a member of royalty not only being loose but also unsafe in their intimate life.

Imperatrix didn't know what a condom was…and Cloud never used it.

Holy hell! Things like this happened to commoners, not the upper echelon!

Wasn't sex outside of marriage a huge scandal for nobles? He knew Tenebrae was big on that shame stance from what Lunafreya told him when Nyx teased her too much about her virgin attributes and pending marriage to Prince Noctis.

What the heck was going on in Gralea?!

"U-Uh…umm…" The inquiry hurled Imperatrix into a fluster for the second time and she became mortified to the point it could be discerned despite her darker skin tone.

This wasn't the cute, small dusting she occasionally got when Nyx pushed her comfort zone, but a full display of someone exposed of their darkest, deepest, dirty laundry and wanting to crawl into a hole for it.

"Oh, my god! You do! You _want a baby_?" The glaive couldn't proceed, stuck between laughing or yelling.

The Fleurets running into the room staunched the conversation.

"Impera how could you be so foolish?!" Ravus took the words right out of Nyx's mouth.

The high commander hovered over the princess, scolds escaping by the minute as his sister put her hands to the injured shoulder for healing.

The glaive left them to it, dazed over the results of his talk. He mindlessly packed the kit.

Imperatrix wanted to have a baby! That was mind-blowing!

She shouldn't though, not while living around those asshole Niffs. They'd rub more of their villainous craziness on her.

Well…

The princess wouldn't be a terrible mother. She grew up with lots of siblings, the responsibility gene was ingrained in her. If not from that, than being in charge of a country would do it.

From the day he met her, Imperatrix looked out for Lunafreya, protecting the girl, guiding the girl, worrying over the girl. Doing all this when she didn't have to. For an imperial she was a lot nicer than expected.

Enemies-turned-reluctant-allies didn't usually mesh together, but the princess discredited that.

He was awful to her at first and so was Lunafreya. For the most part, Imperatrix was civil in the face of their hostility. Guilt probably played a big part in that, but so did her natural kindness.

No, no. Imperatrix had maternal instincts down-packed. She was a strong, patient, and gentle woman. Not at all a bad choice for the mother of his child.

Hold the front door! Why did he just think that?!

"Nyx do you need healing?" Lunafreya offered, glowing hand extended out towards him.

"N-No, I'm peachy." He flinched away from the magic.

Burning tingles ran up his arm to his temple and he flicked the limb, dispelling the phantom vision of flames. He flashed her an appreciative smile at the expression of hurt that crossed the oracle's face in a split second.

"Thanks for looking out, Luna."

"Of course."

After testing herself at the base, Lunafreya was eager to grow her powers. More excited than she could remember being. Potential was bursting within her body after receiving her mother's blessing. Songs flooded her mind, waiting to be crafted and release unto the world.

The melody in her heart wanted to surge out. It was such a profound thing to contain in her emptying vessel.

There was a coldness to her soul after having three pieces of it reclaimed by three of the Astrals, but this magic filled the barren space enough to give her strength.

Growth. This ascension was for Noctis and all of Eos. She'd seen more of it during this journey and seeing the beauty of the land heartened her.

Should this end in her death…than it was fair sacrifice to protect something so grand and vast.

"Let us not dither if no one else is indisposed." Ravus decreed, sticking closer to Imperatrix than before. "We shall not be splitting again."

"That was…a bad call on my part. Please accept my apologies." Lunafreya admitted to the princess, shocking her brother.

"It is alright. None of us could have anticipated that daemon." She patted the girl's cheek benignly. "Everyone be heedful for the Aramusha."

"How has that species appeared here in Lucis? It is native to Yasu." The high commander mussed quietly. "An absconder from the overthrow perhaps?"

"Very likely." Imperatrix responded just as lowly.

"Try not to freak out when you see it." Nyx goaded the whispering platinum blonde, spitefully looking forward to the stiff wetting himself in fright.

"A warning from experience?" His eyebrows and lips lifted in an exceptionally demeaning manner.

"No!" The glaive didn't go hysterical, just froze up. That didn't count so he wasn't lying.

Ravus smirked anyway. "Lucians frighten so effortlessly. How coddled you all are when it comes to daemons."

"What are you talking about? There are plenty of dangerous ones here."

"Compared to the empire? Not even close." The high commander sneered. "Even Accordo has more powerful nightlings. But I should not be cofounded. The Caelums presence on this land weakened them greatly."

Nyx didn't have a comeback for that. How could he when it was the truth?

Kingsglaive alone took care of daemon infested areas that popped up from the Wall's decreased range. Once upon a time, that crystalline dome used to cover the entire continent. Hard to believe, but it did.

Lucis was the safest place to live in Eos on account of the magic. That was sure to stir up loads of resentment in the other nations.

What did Niflheim have to complain about though? They at least had the oracle to create protective measures. Accordo had nothing.

"Says the guy who got his arm burned off by them." Nyx fired off at the end of another hateful spell from Ravus about Lucian vermin.

Lunafreya grabbed ahold of the nearest part of her brother before he could go for his sword. The elder Fleuret froze at the human flesh in contact with his prosthetic. Fear raced up his spine and the high commander jerked out the hold.

She lowered her arm, coolness in her tone. "No more bickering. It is childish."

With that laid down, the oracle walked off, head held high for the chance to chastise two people who frequently and unfairly belittled her.

"Luna…" Ravus said too faintly for anyone to catch, wishing she'd come back and he hadn't overreacted.

The high commander frowned at the glaive. This man was getting in the way. He was Lunafreya's brother and the one allowed to joke, comfort, and protect her.

He would not sanction anyone taking his role as elder brother.

"Ravus come along." Imperatrix beckoned, the last to stay.

The high commander walked up to her, snatching the supply kit off her shoulder and looping it around his.

"E-Excuse me, I—"

"Quiet! Though your arm may be healed, there is no need to add burdens to it."

The princess, knowledgeable of his abrasive sort of concern, beamed at Ravus. "Thank you, my friend."

He grunted.

Let them hurry this up and be done. Everyone present was getting on all trillion of his body's nerves.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Is this a mine or maze? I feel like I'll never see the sun again." Nyx complained, fingers numb form how many times he'd shot Imps.

They were everywhere and endless, causing heart attacks and mischief with every prank. Hatred towards them united him and Ravus.

A truce could be upheld in the common goal of Imp eradication.

When the fiends locked the doors and forced the group to climb back up levels to find an alternate route down, the males snapped, demolishing any set of daemons to materialize. Safe to say, they worked out their frustrations this way and the females were fine with letting them do so. Better to channel that negative energy at the opponents than each other.

"I'm so done with this place." The glaive kicked the ground, getting mud on his shoes.

All this mind-fuckery for silver, iron, gold, and some elemental deposits?! Not worth it!

Actually…

Who was he kidding? Totally worth it from an industrial standpoint. This place was money once the obnoxious Imps were disposed.

"There may come a time that you do not see the sun." Ravus replied ironically to an earlier grievance of the man.

His statement perturbed Lunafreya. Her foot slipped on the last rudder of the ladder.

"Luna!" He caught her and then sucked in a breath as the portion of the ladder she was on creaked, gave out a louder noise, and then detached from the main body in a clean cut.

The bisected piece cluttered noisily to the ground. Ravus held his sister tighter, nerves wired from a presence he sensed behind them.

Lunafreya would've lost her head if she hadn't accidentally fallen.

"It's the Aramusha! Prepare for combat!" Imperatrix ordered, sword out and shield extended from her left gauntlet.

This wasn't her Aurora set, but it was fairly close. More than enough for this battle. She would prove her mettle.

There in the illuminated room of silvery-blue stone columns, stood their daemonic opponent, watching, waiting for the next moment to strike.

The long katana of the enemy met the princess's xiphos, both exerting force to break the other's guard. She pushed, dragging the blade upward, knocking the taller creature off balance.

"Coming through!" Nyx slid in between the woman and daemon, bow in twin-dagger mode to slice along the kimono to purple skin.

The Aramusha growled, dissolving into mist.

Imperatrix eyes darted around for the foe. Spying nothing, she relied on instincts.

The air itself was charged with magic, power that she could sense after being exposed to high quantities of it from the covenant trials. Which was how the princess blocked a downward slash to her head, launching into a battle of swordplay with the samurai.

Ravus joined the exchange through a lunge to the back of the daemon, but found himself thwarted by its sheathe. High commander and princess were kept on their toes by the master swordsman simultaneously wielding his katana and sheathe as weapons.

"For the love of — this and the Red Giant are nightmares!" Ravus coughed out specks of blood from his kneeled position after a mighty jab to his stomach that tossed him backwards.

His old injuries were flaring up. Red seeped into his spare sweater. Moving to stand made his world spin.

"Curses!" He spat.

Imperatrix shrieked as the sash from the katana wrapped around her and the daemon flung the woman in a circle, concluding with her smashed into the ground and stunned.

"Impera!" Nyx missed twice trying to shoot the elusive swordsman to cover his downed ally, tucking into a hasty roll when it appeared right in front of him and almost severed the glaive in half. "Ah, shit! He's too fast!"

The Aramusha turned slowly, bending into a deadly stance. Ravus was in its sights.

"Keep away from my brother, foul beast!" Lunafreya felt the magic gathering and called forth the power.

A short aria gave birth to the impenetrable barrier from Titan's trial, shielding her prone sibling. However, the hastiness of the spell weakened it.

The death strike connected with the golden dome, shattering it into falling glass shards and knocking her back a few feet as if she'd been struck.

Had she sung instead of using a quick chant, it would've held. Still, it served its purpose of defense.

"L-Luna…I told y-you to stay back…" The high commander took a deep breath, indomitable will overcoming the physical setbacks of his damaged body and stood on shaky feet. "It's not safe…"

No one would harm his sister.

"I'm not a child to hide behind your back, brother." Lunafreya focused her magic into the staff, twisting it to summon the trident. "I am the oracle!"

The Aramusha hesitated to engage the radiant girl. Her light weakened it.

She thrusted the trident at the creature, fear in the backseat for courage. None in her company would fall to darkness while she held power in her body.

"Don't forget about defense, Luna!" Imperatrix's shield knocked the katana off course, leaving the daemon open for the blonde to stab it in the shoulder.

The swordsman yelled with its nonexistent mouth, stumbling backwards with the weapon impeded in its torso since the shorter girl lost her grip. Mist escaped from the wound and into the atmosphere, darkening the room with reddish-violet particles.

Angered, the Aramusha raised its blade, for it couldn't touch the light-attributed trident without hurting itself. The magic came too fast for Lunafreya to counter with another barrier.

Black liquid pooled out from its feet. From it spikes jutted out, skewering through the unarmed oracle's clothing and cutting her. In a wide arc, Imperatrix slashed the next batch of skweres aiming to kill the girl, blade next piercing into the inky pool. The princess's thumb smashed the button at the bottom of the hilt.

The sword shined as brightly as the trident, vanquishing the dark magic.

"How did you do that?!" Lunafreya gaped at the sword shimmering the most magnificent shade of gold and basking its owner in the same incandescence.

So pretty, like something out of a children's book.

"Magitek, Darling Girl." Imperatrix lost some of her mirth, noting the red streaks littering the oracle. "Fall back, support us from the rear."

Previously, Lunafreya might have disobeyed, but the younger Fleuret now trusted the princess more than she did in the beginning.

"Keep it at bay and I will sing to weaken it."

"Sing freely. The enemy shan't interrupt." Imperatrix promised, covering the blonde's retreat.

With the crystal in the middle of the steel emitting elemental power to the length of the blade, it would do double damage to the Aramusha. Genius's inventions were on par with the Lucian's armory.

Soon there would be no need to fear the dark or its children.

"What did I say about stealing the limelight, Impera?" Nyx taunted, shifty feet moving him swiftly, sporadically around the battlefield.

Red arrows hit their marks more frequently with the daemon preoccupied with the princess. The high commander finally rejoined the fray, supporting Imperatrix where he could and keeping the daemon a wide berth from the oracle.

"Ask not the sparrow how the great eagle soars!" She shouted over the clanging of blades.

"What?!" He scrunched up his face into the biggest expression of dumbfounded.

Astounding to all present, the Aramusha laughed, a deep, gravelly sound that chilled the bones.

"Did it…understand that word vomit?" The glaive thought he'd seen it all.

A daemon laughing? What the actual fu…

"I hate you, Impera. So much." Ravus intoned bleakly at how energized the samurai now seemed from the princess's words. "Stop watching those blasted cartoons with Tempesta!"

"Don't say such a horrible thing to me! I'm your sister!" She whined, stabbed to the heart by the jest.

"In-law." He corrected.

"That doesn't matter! We are bound still by lo—"

The Aramusha lunged. A beautiful song began.

Three battled the one, following the tempo of the hymn. A collision of cooperative force.

Imperatrix bounced off the wall, grabbing ahold of the trident and pulling it out in her descent. Ravus sliced the limp arm off, arrow flying past his head to disintegrate the severed appendage.

"That is the second arm you have dismembered." The princess sheathed her sword, distancing herself to aim the polearm at the daemon. "Sensitive much?"

Her barb got the high commander to ball his mechanical fist, electricity sparking off it. "Do you wish to duel? I will crush you, most savagely."

"I would not deprive Furia of a husband." She extended her arm and pulled back the trident, tensing up for the right moment to throw.

"You vainglorious—" Ravus fired lightning at the Aramusha, missing from it converting into its mist form.

The song reached its zenith. Appearing from the vapor, the daemon howled at the ball of light imitating the sun in its floating radiance.

"Now's the time to kill it!" Nyx spun the dial encircling the crystal.

He tugged the empowered arrow back, grunting from the heat and force of it.

Recognizing the charging of a death blow, the samurai sprinted towards the glaive. Imperatrix tossed the trident. It speared through the target's chest.

Vulnerable and on the brink of defeat, Nyx finished off the creature. His shot blew off its head with a sharp noise. The headless body sank to the floor, evaporating into smog by the magic sun's rays.

A trident clamoring to the stone floor signaled the end of the battle.

"Oh, yeah. I still got it." Nyx bent over, puffing out the adrenaline. "Caner ain't got nothing on me…"

Another song, sweeter and happier, filled the room. Injuries healed, but the fatigue remained.

"What say you, Ravus? Is she the weak, sick girl you knew?" Imperatrix returned the trident to its staff mode, pride gracing her features as she gazed upon the oracle.

The elder Fleuret huffed, arms crossed and lips sealed shut.

He didn't recognize his sister. There wasn't any flicker of hesitance or fear when she faced him or daemons. An assurance of bravery varnished her instead.

Not once did she listen to his commands to stay back, jumping into the fray at every opportunity. From her reckless battlelust he expected a resulting hard lesson of pain and tears, her running to him for safeguarding, which he'd gladly give, but it never happened.

His moment of being the heroic knight to his little sister never came.

She could defend herself…and him…

Who was this woman? Where had the little girl gone?

Lunafreya needed him…right?

"Can we get out of here now? We've got everything on grocery list." Nyx drank water out of his canteen, pouring some of it on his face.

They'd gone as deep into the mine as possible, collecting so much that the ingredient bag was about to burst. Plus they stuffed more materials into each of their travel packs.

The quest was more than done.

"Yes, we ought to return. Who knows what diabolics the chancellor has gotten into in our absence." Imperatrix checked her phone, but there was no change on the flower background.

With no bar signal in Balouve, messages or phone calls wouldn't come through. The time on the device specified they'd been below ground for seven hours, from morning to evening, scavenging.

The Besithias probably finished their objective and were on route to Costlemark in the jeep.

"Pryna and Umbra will be restless and hungry after being in the ship for so long. I doubt the chancellor would feed them." Lunafreya brooded.

Her dogs didn't like the man, always barking and growling at him. She didn't like him much either, but so far he hadn't done anything to earn their wrath. Why did the divine messengers dislike Ardyn so?

She stopped, feeling a brush of powerful magic. A narrow opening in a silver stone beckoned her. The oracle could fit into gap by going sideways, step by step to the destination.

Something was behind this tricky path…and it called to her…

Putting a hand on the smooth rock, images of a tomb entered her mind.

The Clever! Noctis's birthright laid beyond!

"Luna do not go forward." Ravus sensed the magic and his mechanical arm jolted him with pain.

The daemon inside screamed in fear.

"B-Brother?" She dropped all thoughts of the Royal Arm, a spell weaving together to soothe the sibling groaning in agony.

"Don't!" He was too late to prevent Lunafreya from pressing her healer's hands to his chest.

While the oracle thought she was helping, she in fact made it worse. The elder's gasps increased. The younger didn't understand why his pain wouldn't recede. She imparted more light, more of herself to incite the other's latent magic.

Ravus became lost, taken back to the burning of Fenestala, to the torment of joining the military, to the disgrace of the Lucii's judgment, to the visions of Lunafreya's death.

The daemon showed the worst of his memories.

"I don't know what's wrong!" She exclaimed to her companions at her brother's worsened condition, clamming up at the dark sensation she got from touching the metal as he crumpled into her. "What is this?!"

The high commander elbowed her off, delirious and panting. The voice quieted, as did the pictures.

Nobody said anything or moved, taunt with confusion and not wanting to set off the firecracker. Ravus gave no explanation, rising to leave. Imperatrix and Nyx let him climb the stairs, sensing his off nature.

"I've come to the conclusion all of you are crazy." The glaive nodded, holding out a hand to help the oracle up.

She took it after a beat.

Lunafreya did indeed feel like she was insane. How else could she describe sensing powerful darkness in her light-born brother?

More formidable than Starscourge…no! It was more like the final stage, victim on the cusp of transforming.

Ravus bore no thorn-like striations and he was fully human. Different appearance with his colorless hair and heterochromatic eyes, but still her suffocating brother that she loved and loathed.

How could he feel like a daemon?

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Your brother is not likely to say this, but you preformed stunningly." Imperatrix smiled, sitting beside the oracle on the bench.

Sun gone down, the group of four waited for the chancellor to arrive.

The area proved too cluttered and uneven for the princess to land the ship near the mines. Hence, the red headed talker was delegated to chauffeur, providing a drop-off and a pickup.

It would've been simpler for Ardyn to loan them his car, but the man didn't trust Nyx or Ravus with his precious Vixen. Even though both of them had licenses to corroborate their certified good driving skills.

Lunafreya and Imperatrix weren't given any form of consideration as drivers by the chancellor during the discussion. One of them was so sheltered that it was a huge gamble to put her behind the wheel. The other…promised destruction if she were to drive.

No matter how much coaching Ardyn gave her, the princess persisted in ineptly operating a vehicle, and that in itself was a miraculous feat.

He tried teaching Imperatrix many things to no avail.

"I have reached this point thanks to you." Lunafreya raised her gaze from her fold hands, returning the happy air.

"I had my doubts in the beginning. You were impetuous with the idea of your invulnerability. How swift it was proven wrong." Imperatrix leaned on her clasped hands, contemplative of the change in her apprentice. "The Archaean opened your eyes? Reminded you of a human's mortality?"

She choked on her breath, squeezing the fabric of her dress. Minuscule and easy to miss, her head tilted forward in silent agreement.

Failure of her duty as oracle rattled Lunafreya's confidence. Laying defenseless in the chasm, molten rocks falling towards them, friends lost and hurt, and buried among the rubble…

Her first real instance of fear since the attack on Tenebrae. No, she was more afraid in that moment than any other in her life.

Humans were one thing. The gods were another.

Lunafreya shivered.

That fear…was this what the imperials felt? What regular people felt?

For the barest second she associated horror instead of worship towards the Astrals. Humans were ants before them and they wove so much destruction with the most minimal of actions. Shouldn't they have more consideration for humans if they were the protectors of it?

By her hand Lestallum suffered terrible damage. Titan's tremors rocked the land. Ramuh, thankfully always had a benevolent stance towards humans. His trial occurred far from civilization and the worst inconvenience of it was the storms a few cities had to deal with.

Shiva…

The oracle had no idea how her covenant with the Glacian affected the world. Was the price the everlasting blizzard? Was she responsible for all those people suffering?

Why were the gods laying so much destruction on her conscience? They were corrupting her to the same level as the imperials.

No! These thoughts were blasphemous!

The Six loved humanity! They were to be adored and above reproach. That was the way!

"Once, there was a frog who was born in a well." Imperatrix began in a calming voice, luring Lunafreya out a conflict of the mind. "The frog was very proud of the fact that he was the biggest creature in the well. As a result, the frog believed he was invincible."

The oracle knew this wasn't a random story. Comparing her to an amphibian was a little uncomplimentary. Better to listen to this than continue her heretical line of thinking.

The lights of the parking lot came on at the loss of final light. Ravus and Nyx edged closer to the illumination, eyes about for a red convertible.

"One day, he made up his mind to leave the well. Eventually, he ended up in the ocean and realized, in the grand scheme of things, he was smaller than he thought." The princess brushed hair from the girl's cheek with her knuckle, lacking any superiority in her softness. "Do not be discouraged. Adversity humbles us at every stage. It is a lesson forgotten and remembered."

Sense finally worked its way into Lunafreya's mind, keeping her from doing any life-threatening stunts. The level-headness she showed in their battles was proof of her growth.

"When you spoke like this to me before, it irritated me. Now, I find it comforting." The oracle sighed, memories of young Noctis coming to mind. "How are you so strong?"

She wanted to say more, but didn't push her luck.

How was the princess so pure, when everything around her was so rotten?

Imperatrix didn't deserve her callousness, not when she tried so hard to do good. She kept her word to Regis, helping his son when presented the chance at the base. She'd helped her too, teaching Lunafreya the basics of combat, survival skills, and regular day-to-day skills.

They weren't enemies.

"Do not think that of me. You have seen me weak and honestly…that is my true self."

The bawling mess hiding behind her hands, unwilling to face reality, that was her. Tired and afraid of the weight on her shoulders as a princess, that was her.

A thin veneer of denial…how craven of her.

From Insomnia to Longwythe, her mess of emotions was the truth. Twice more at the bases when she broke down on separate occasions in Ardyn's arms.

Strong? Imperatrix felt pitiful most the time. That incessant inner wail of inadequacy drove her to quell the vulnerability. She was the living embodiment of a "strong front".

A lie to the self told enough times could make a believer out of anyone.

"I falter, I fall, I fail. No different from anyone else, Lunafreya." Imperatrix sighed. "Moreso even, when I have not the luxury for it."

Too many people relied on her to fail, but she let them down anyway. She couldn't save everyone, couldn't satisfy everyone. Sometimes…the failure made achievement seem impossible.

The princess could be a disgrace to the family every so often.

In the air of despair, words tumbled out of the oracle's mouth. "In battle you are far more familiar with me."

The princess's despondency morphed to shock and then innocent hopefulness.

"Would you continue that trend outside of spars and skirmishes?" She managed to say kindly, mild nervousness in her gut for encroaching into new territory.

She'd never gone past courteous with anyone. The servants treated her as a princess and nothing more, never conversing in a personal manner with her. Some blame could be laid on her feet for that.

Lunafreya was often paranoid that Ravus had the servants spying on her and reporting to him. How else could he know so much when he was away all the time?

The citizens revered her too much as the oracle and head of the church to do more than sing praises and bow to her. Speaking with them beyond their health was almost impossible. Doubly impossible with the foreign arrivals seeking her blessings, who couldn't get past the ideal of a messiah when interacting with her.

Her life was so cold and secluded.

As much as she reviled the Aldercapt family, she secretly hoped that when Furia came to live with them the second princess would become a friend to her. The bewitching girl was all charm and smiles to Lunafreya, but for some reason…it didn't really feel like her sister-in-law wanted to be her friend.

One minute Furia could be perfectly cordial to her and then sweetly derisive in the next, beguiling smile making the person second-guess the moment of acidity and writing it off as an impossibility.

The second princess was so confusing.

Lunafreya had no idea what it was like to have a friend besides Noctis. But could he be considered one of those with how tender she thought of him? With the prevailing sense of duty and destiny hanging between them?

Her relationship with the little lamb went beyond mundane terminology as friends or lovers. They were fated, Noctis and her.

Their string would most likely end in tragedy…that was the way in all the books, right?

Friends…she wanted to deem these new people as her first friends. She could at least have that.

"You must do the same for me then, Luna." Imperatrix couldn't stop herself from giggling, delighted to hear her shortened name from the girl.

Now everyone in the group referenced her in closeness.

"What spell are you two weaving?" Nyx inserted himself into the conversation after hearing the twittering, lopsided grin an accusation in itself. "Giggling girls are never a good thing. Unless you're gossiping about my greatness."

Imperatrix said something insulting in French, which Lunafreya tittered at and then scolded the princess for saying something outrageous in her language.

"It really gets on my nerves that you all can speak different languages." The glaive crossed his arms, put out like a child bullied out a game everyone was playing.

"If you are that jealous, I could teach you." The woman of white hair suggested in English.

"How many languages do you know?" He heard her go into at least three, and of course the common tongue of Lucis, so four under her belt.

She leaned backwards into the bench, mulling over the repertoire of linguistics she built up over the years.

"Fourteen." Imperatrix at last answered.

"What?! You've got to be messing with me!" Nyx exclaimed. "That's not even realistic!"

How were there even that many in Eos?!

"Some have gone dead though with the fall of their civilization. And after the fifth or sixth, learning others is not as daunting."

Yasu fell to its neighboring island. Their official language went from Japanese to Mandarin. The Huangdi of Guang Guo erased the conquered nation's identity, rewriting it with the Guang way.

Euphemia's retainer, Kaguya was the last trace of Yasugi royalty and culture. A sad, beautiful relic they took in with open arms for the wrong done to her.

Greek, Arabic, and Russian were just about never spoken anymore since the major countries were lost to snow and ice.

The lower sects in Gralea used to speak Greek, but the expanded portion of the city was wiped out in the avalanche. Latin became not only the language of the nobles, but of all the remaining denizens of the fortress.

Kazimir was the last guardian of Russian, but with Daneinar and Fellfin its nearest allies, the Russian tongue was losing importance to Danish and Finish. The Czar and his royal court were the only ones to communicate in the mother tongue when she visited the city of spiral domes and cathedrals.

The same situation of loss occurred with Egypt, but the country couldn't sustain itself and merged back with Persia. Arabic lost to Farsi. The Pharaoh wasn't happy about the merger at all, but at least the Shah at the time allowed them to retain autonomy.

The current rulers of Egypt and Persia were at odds. Ismail wanted the Gyptian royals to marry into the Persian dynasty, but Cleopatra wanted them to remain co-rulers. An ongoing headache for years and a complete pain to Imperatrix while she stayed in her maternal homeland.

Her cousins didn't get along about anything and stuck her in the middle of every argument. It got to the point where the princess found every menial task she could to get out of the palace.

"If you think my linguistics are remarkable, then the chancellor's are unbelievable. He knows every language of this time period and even ones from well before." Imperatrix shared in a moderately boastful way.

Ardyn's depth of knowledge amazed her. He was sage underneath all that foolery.

"He did speak French very sophisticatedly. I might have believed him one of my countrymen if I did not know better." Lunafreya supplemented begrudgingly.

Disparaged her for not knowing more. He was right on that account, but who was he to tell her? He was no oracle.

"I fancy the same of his Farsi, it is unfathomably aristocratic. Which is a puzzle since he has no ties to the dynasty."

"Much about him is an enigma."

Imperatrix nodded.

Where was he from? Did he have family? What was his past?

All these unknowns she held conjectures to, but no concrete answers. The princess wanted them solved, the man unveiled to her.

"Hey, uh, Impera?"

She gave her attention to Nyx, who pointed to the ruined house off to the side. Lunafreya had left to chat with her brother.

"Can we…talk?"

"How intriguing. Men usually do not like that." Imperatrix jibed.

"I aim to be one of a kind." The glaive shuffled in place, sticking out his hand to the woman.

She stared at it, bashful at the prospect of touching him with the truth swimming around in the back of her head.

No wonder his embrace tickled her heart yesterday. Her body knew what her mind didn't.

"C'mon, I don't bite."

"Yes you do, wolf." She alleged.

Imperatrix took his offer, breathing deeply at how her stomach simmered from him interlocking their fingers and leading the way.

"I know for fact I didn't give you any hickeys. Can't say the same for my neck." Nyx playfully snapped his teeth at her. "Next time though, babe."

"Next…time?" She murmured, heart skipping a beat.

Inside the dim house with no roof, the princess and glaive huddled close, near the window where they could see the Fleuret siblings in a discussion.

"Have you been thinking about me as much as I've been thinking about you?" Nyx began with a ragged exhale, cornering Imperatrix with his intense gaze and proximity. He held her face in his gloved hands. "You drive me insane."

Ever since he jogged her memory, the most irrational thoughts and scenarios kept popping into his brain. Like audio on replay, the possibility of their night of passion creating something, occupied him.

Maybe dying slowly and painfully was the culprit for his sudden, illogical yearning for a tiny munchkin crafted from a part of him. He didn't want to disappear with no legacy, no reminder that he existed on this planet. That was the only justification when there were so many snags that came with parenthood, especially when the parents had equally complicated situations.

He was a hunter from Galahd, a Lucian soldier. She was a Nephilim princess, a commander in the army.

Their worlds didn't mix, weren't supposed to mix, but somehow their parties converged in the hunting grounds.

"Nyx…our night was one singularity. If you…kiss me now…you are making a conscious choice." Imperatrix lost the rest of her words at the glaive leaning in so close that their breaths mingled, noses and foreheads connected.

"You talk too much." He closed the space.

The princess immediately responded, moving her lips against his, tingled to her belly by this wild, obtuse, fatalistic man. The brave, loyal, altruistic man that she clung to by the lapels of his jacket, bringing him body to body with her.

His tongue stroked her lip and she granted him access, moan muffled into the consuming kiss. Hands travelled down from her face to her shoulders, down more, settling on her hips and grinding them into the opposite pair. She did her own adventuring underneath his shirt, mapping the hard muscles he earned in training, getting a groan out of the man for the leather material tickling his rough skin.

Neither wanted to stop, but air controlled them, making prolonged kissing difficult.

At the separation, Imperatrix admired her second heart, enthralled by his handsome face aglow from the lamplights. She traced along the spider-webbed scars, from face to hand, and twined their fingers once more.

How could she have ever thought of it as a fantasy?

"I must've done so well, you could only rationalize it as a dream."

"Nothing I say or do dwindles your ego. In a sense, that is impressive." Imperatrix rolled her eyes, shoving the glaive off in good humor. "I applaud your self-assurance."

He preened under the praise. "You 'applaud' a lot about me."

The two looked out the window at the sound of a car's arrival. Lunafreya called for them.

"Hello, hello! A fine evening to you all, weary dungeon crawlers." Ardyn cheered over the radio song, waving spiritedly at the four crowding around Vixen. "Find everything you need?"

"Yes, we did." The princess opened the front door, taking the spot she knew the others were debating over who would get the misfortune of sitting by the chancellor.

She, however, had no issue being next to him.

"What is this?" Imperatrix picked at the plastic covering on the seat.

"Pardon me, Your Highness, but…" Ardyn gave them all a swift study. "You're all a mess. Can't have Vixen all grimy and mucky."

She blushed at once more presenting an unfit image of herself before this man she dearly wanted to impress at all times. Even though she knew how stupid that was, it didn't stop her from seeking an image of refinement before her suitors.

Got damn it! Nyx had kissed her when she was grubby!

How awful!

The chancellor caught Imperatrix's internal meltdown and flashed a smile her way, scooting over to take the bag from the princess and set it on the floor. She got in, sullenly shutting the door.

"Won't you all get in? I promise you'll leave with all your body parts intact." Ardyn jested.

"Someone can't afford to lose any more." Nyx muttered.

"You do not look that much better than me." Ravus disputed with a pointed examination of the scarred-lining.

"Oh, my! This pairing must've been volatile."

"You have no idea." Imperatrix grumbled to Ardyn.

"Please get in the car and be civil." Lunafreya's chilled blankness left no room for contention.

Three bodies piled into the back. The oracle was unfortunately lodged between two hotheads. Their squeaky movements on the plastic made the driver snort his amusement into the wheel.

The car swerved around the parking lot, heading for the Setzer.

"I was so dreadfully bored, all by my lonesome on the ship! Do marvel me with the exploits of your adventure in the underbelly of the land."

Imperatrix catered to his appeal, beginning the tale. Not long into it, Nyx threw in his two cents, embellishing his proficiency against the mighty Aramusha. Ravus was right there to mow down the falsities, slandering the glaive with every word. Lunafreya was then forced to add her voice, rebutting the fanciful and the malicious for pragmatic segments.

By the end everyone chattered to Ardyn about their perspective of the events. He snickered to himself.

Ah, the simplicity of conversation. How wonderful and lively.

Truly a simple pleasure taken for granted by mortals. They knew not the torment of forced silence from captivity.

A solitary prison could be maddening.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Euphie did so well. Venus too." Imperatrix smiled at the computer monitor.

The videoplay of her sister's speech concluded with the younger princesses waving to the crowds as they departed the dais with their retainers. Thunderous applause from the onlookers and laudable commentary from the news reporters were what they deserved. It took guts to execute public speaking.

Euphemia did the actual speech with the youngest Aldercapt standing attentively nearby, but it still counted for Venus. She spooked frequently and the girl was still a child. Points to her for upholding the duties of royalty.

"I have been gone too long…"

Euphemia was becoming so pretty in her maturing age. Long snowy hair that she wore half up in dual buns on the sides of her head and the rest cascading down. The front tresses framed her face neatly, highlighting bright emerald eyes and a carefree expression.

Some things were the same. Still sporting those gothic white and black dresses and clumsy-footing all over the place.

She tripped right into her intended's arms at the end of her descent from the platform. The stunt would've appeared romantic to the crowd, but to those that knew her, it was an exasperation.

Soon she'd be seventeen…and then eighteen. The legal age of adulthood. Another sister gone from the nest to live amongst her wedded family.

Furia was given to Tenebrae and Euphemia would be given to Daneinar. Siegfried better honor the second princess as the main wife if he chose to take others.

Venus was finally gaining weight. She was such a small child, petrified by everything from her previous upbringing. Her brown hair converted to the Aldercapt white, trimmed into a graduated bob and bangs.

She at least dressed the part of a princess in her puffy gown and cape in shades of white and pink, tiara crowning her head. So cute and innocent.

Too long…

Imperatrix had not laid eyes on them since the departure from Gralea.

"Have you called your sisters? The youngest two have gone back to school." Ardyn added some finishing touches to his sketch of Imperatrix, blowing off the extra bits of lead.

From his floor status on the bridge, the chancellor passed the hour drawing. His paramour watching internet postings of the royal tour provided the best vision of storage, familial love.

Imperatrix was a human well versed in the different aspects of love. Was it any wonder he adhered to her, seeking out even a fragment of her ever broadening affections?

Ardyn Izunia…the most unlovable creature on Eos.

Abandoned and betrayed by the very ones meant to love him unconditionally. Once he knew storage, but he lost her companionship, growing bitter in her absence.

If his family couldn't love him, why should anyone else?

"Euphie now messages me for help with her math homework and I am terrible at it." Imperatrix frowned, slumping in the chair. "My mind can scarcely conjure up the lessons from military prep school. Sadly, I am of no use to her."

After a summer —not really a summer with snow — the princesses returned to Gralea for the school year. The third sister was a junior in high school. Venus couldn't handle the exposure of elementary school children and her education was lacking from her…disadvantageous youth before the coming to live in the palace. Home tutoring was the arrangement for her.

"I am no use to them either, but I am fond of the art projects and the literature assignments they ask for help with." Ardyn tapped a pencil against his chin. "Education is so fascinating, acutely different from my day."

In those ancient days, the rich and common-born males were educated. Only high-born females with doting fathers received tutelage. Most of it went to waste since those very same fathers married their daughters off to husbands that then restricted them to household adornments.

Women had come a long way from those dark ages.

He was fortunate enough to receive tutors in his youth, on account of who his father was. His mother was barely literate, more suited to trouble and diversions than a classroom, which was a shame since she was afford the rare chance of education through the monastery.

She caused so much trouble for her fellow sisters of the black hoods.

Although, much of his higher learning occurred well after his original life. The human lifespan, frankly wasn't nearly enough time to learn and retain anything. On top of that, most of their days were lost to sleeping and working. How did mortals manage to get anything done in their short activity window?

The chancellor could hardly fathom how he managed to save so many and wreck himself so badly. He was a slouch in those days, whipped into action by Musa and Tellus, two glory-seeking, adrenaline-junkie siblings.

When he wasn't healing people, following godly decrees, or hunting Divine Arms, Ardyn delighted in snoozing on Musa's lap while she read some lost tome, fingers occasionally scratching through his hair. Tellus would then join the pile, laying on top of him and clocking out.

The three of them were symbiotic.

"Our generations are not so gapped. Unless you were raised somewhere dated, which I doubt." Imperatrix turned off the monitor, stretching out her body after sitting for an hour.

Bad sleeping habits were growing on her from this unexpectedly long journey. The princess let the others turn in after dinner while she flew the ship to Costlemark Tower.

Leaving the vessel on autopilot for the trip was perfectly fine. Except the program couldn't maneuver the ship against airborne threats.

Daemons weren't restricted to land.

"Oh? Have you determined my origins?" Ardyn put the pencil in the case, pocketing the set.

"Yes. A long time ago."

"You sound so sure, that I am tempted to give you a penalty if answered incorrectly."

"And if I am right, will you present me a reward?" Imperatrix crawled towards the chancellor to lean on his bended knees.

He opted out of sleeping to keep her company.

"Anything you want, my dear."

"I stand by my previous edict as Imperatrix Mundi, your empress."

"I see. Answers are the key." He humored her with a flick to the nose, eyes narrowing in warning. "Unveil the beast if you dare, Musa."

She tenderly met his eye, communicating wordlessly how much the answer wouldn't change her feelings. "You are Lucian, my darling first love. Dare I say…an Insomnian."

Ardyn knew too much about the Caelums and his refined features were of that secluded garden at the corner of the world. His accent though…didn't match any that she heard while in the city. It didn't seem to fit any one place in this world.

The man being an important Lucian would also explain why her father took him in at a young age and ignored all grievances about the red head, elevating the foreigner to illustrious heights. Iedolas's favors were given generously, but Ardyn's ascension was unnaturally swift and held for decades with no sign of declining.

"Ardyn?" Imperatrix called when he stayed stoic, no dramatic flare, no clapping, and no mockery.

He was blank, the empty span of a canvas.

"Did they…" She swallowed the lump in her throat, sadness for him causing her to scoot in between his legs and hug the man. "Did they hurt you? Are your wounds from them? Is that the basis of your anger, your resentment for the Lucians?"

His mutilated body could be one answer to the personal vendetta he harbored against the crown city and its royal family.

How dare they do those things to him!

How old had he been? No more than a boy to suffer through torture. Nothing he did could possibly have merited nailed hands, strangulation, and whippings.

What was his crime?!

"From time to time…you are too clever for your own good, Imperatrix." Ardyn refused to look at her.

Broiling acridity better suited for the inanimate technology around them. She didn't warrant his ugliness.

Technically speaking the country wasn't called Lucis when he was born, nor was the capital called Insomnia.

Time raked at his memories. He couldn't say what the place was called now, only that it was a fairly nice place to live. His hubristic father made sure his patron city was nothing to scoff at.

Why even care what his home city was called at this point? Insignificant details as those were tossed to the abyss.

"As promised, what would you like to know?"

Considering she was half-right, Ardyn didn't have to reward the bundle shifting to lay against him, but of course he spoiled her silly in exchange for causing her ample anguish through his machinations.

"What is this?" Imperatrix carefully plucked the stray paper out the man's hand. It clearly wasn't the drawing of her he'd been busy with.

He hummed distractedly, glancing down. The chancellor tensed, journal dropped to the floor as he grabbed the princess's wrists.

"Darling?" Imperatrix bent her head upwards, mesmerized by molten, seraphic gold.

The silver-tongued master struggled to voice a response, coiling his arms around his paramour and sagging into her once he took his eyes off the picture.

How sentimental of him to bring out that particular page when unpleasant thoughts clouded his mind.

Family…how eternally poisonous they could be. Their miserable brush could alter a person and from there a cycle of misery began.

People were products of circumstance.

"Is this to be your prize?"

"If…if you wish to tell me…"

Ardyn heaved a sigh, uttering out in a watery and cracked tone. "It is…a household portrait. I drew it a long time ago."

She moved the paper closer to her face, marveling at the physical insight into his life.

Three figures. A mother, father, and little boy. Strangely, the chancellor didn't include himself in the scenic account.

The paper was crumpled but smooth, like the owner periodically balled it up in his fist, at the last minute deeming it too important to discard, flattening out the fit of rage to preserve the sacred memory. There were also dark spots on the brown paper, randomly spaced about. Remnants of teardrops hitting the vellum and leaving its mark.

A very old piece of history.

How many times did Ardyn look at it and cry?

"Your mother is beautiful. You take very much after her." Imperatrix prompted to appease him, reaching behind to caress the man's cheek.

Colored in, the woman shared her son's vivid, elusive locks, but hers were more of a burgundy-brown than Ardyn's bleeding-sunset crimson that could shine violet in the dark. That look of mischievous features was another hallmark of their relation. She imagined the mother passed on a jolly nature to her children.

"She is so distant to me now… A wisp of nostalgia."

"What about your father and…brother?" The princess guessed the second connection, assured that she was correct since the boy didn't look like Ardyn.

The father and son were similar with that dark, spiky hair shaded with blue tints. There was a severity to them. Or as much as a chubby-faced child could produce. They differed in eye color though, green for the boy, to match his mother, and violet for the man.

Where did Ardyn's amber eyes come from then?

"I wish I could forget them." The red head snarled out.

Imperatrix gasped from how confined she became, breathing impeded from the chancellor's fit.

"A-Ar-Ardyn, too tight!"

He flinched, letting go all at once and retreating to hit the pilot's chair. She caught her breath, putting the loose page in the journal and then offering it to the man. He stared disdainfully at the old present.

She pushed too far. No more questions.

"I will pry no more. Please take it."

"For this day." Ardyn huffed out a derisive chuckle, relenting in his bad mood to flick his fingers in a motion for her come closer.

The princess let out a tiny smile at him taking the journal, widening her mirth when he lightly smacked her on the nose with it.

"Are we there yet? These old bones don't need to be on the cold floor." The chancellor threw out his arms dramatically, laying down with his great coat billowing out in a black halo.

He covered his eyes with the fedora.

"You are old." She agreed teasingly, lying on top of him.

"You're not supposed to agree! Have some sensitivity, Your Highness." Ardyn lifted the hat to pout at her.

"Why? You tell me I am filthy all the time."

"You're a _naughty little princess_. It's my duty to remind you so." He inhaled deeply into the top of her pretty head. "But you clean up so well. I love how you smell after a shower."

She'd braided her hair again, but that was quickly undone by him once they were alone. Her conditioner was a lovely scent, along with the body soaps.

There were so many marvels in this age that he would've died for in his.

"Ahhh…I miss taking baths with you. Shame there's none on this ship."

Once there was a giant, sparkling, marble bath that Musa adored using any time they visited her uncle in Gralea. She'd toss roses and other flowers into the water, bathing like some tantalizing goddess. Whether it was the steam or her, Ardyn was faintish with euphoria from the experiences.

"Even if there were, we would not fit in them." Imperatrix rolled to rest on his arm instead when his rumbling laughter came close to displacing her. "You are so tall…only a pool fits you."

Her bath was bigger than average and gave them the freedom to move around. He took advantage of that, corralling the princess into copulation within the floral water until they tired and finally used the bath for its purpose.

"You'd best stop making that lustful face. I might be tempted to have you in this public setting, where any of your companions could walk in and see the crown princess being ravaged by the chancellor."

"They might actually die of shock. None of them like you."

"Oh, how mean of you to say!" Ardyn scoffed, smoothing a hand along his chin. "I might have to quit shaving, my feelings are so hurt! Go back to the stubble and eventual beard."

Before he adopted the new style to fit in at the empire, the red head presented himself differently. Long hair tied back and falling into his face, a beard, and white robes of a traveling healer.

Every morning after she finished grooming herself, Musa would tend to him, brushing his hair and trimming his facial hair. Sometimes she reveled in having a bearded partner, saying it made him appear less foreign to her since everyone in the Persian kingdom had them. Other times she got vexed and sheared it off, religiously using a blade every few days for a clean cut to reveal his youthfulness.

So fickle was she. Now his ladylove took one stance.

"You will not! Fresh and clean is the vogue of my consort." Imperatrix insisted imperiously, flicking the hat off his face once more. "You asked of me for long hair and I ask this of you. A fair trade."

"Hmm, not really. Mine requires daily maintenance."

She gave him the blandest stare possible, twirling her curly hair in her fingers. "There is no comparison to be made. You know nothing of daily upkeep."

The princess had forgotten it as well after a long period of chin-length hair, and if she was lucky to miss a few haircuts, shoulder-length. Now that the thick tresses were grown to her back, she was re-educating herself in hair-care.

"Oh, my Dearest." Ardyn claimed some of the moonlight strands, kissing the sweet smelling treasure that he fancied could be cotton candy if only she used that brand of products he bought her. Shame she liked the peppermint one better. "Do your eyes deceive you? For mine is curly as well."

"Don't even! That's not curly, it's wavy!"

She glowered at the flyaway reds that wouldn't defy gravity so much if he combed his hair more often. They were messy from him driving his car with the roof down all the time and then being bunched under his hat. Disorderly flames from the man running around like a bored child needing to be entertained at all hours of the day.

No other descriptions did the red mantle justice.

"Not even wavy, completely chaotic! That is your hair, Ardyn Izunia."

"My, my, if I didn't love you so, I might get offended from these heinous accusations." He smiled snidely, pinching the woman's cheek. "Aren't you lucky, lovely, little princess?"

She climbed back on top. Red mixed with white in her shortening the distance between their faces. While Imperatrix was trying to make a point by physically comparing their hair, the chancellor arrived at another.

"This brings back memories." Ardyn nuzzled his nose into hers, expression wicked. "Tighten my scarf and have away, my dear."

The Norduscaen Base was history, the first shift of him returned to the princess's grace.

"Another time. We must re-visit our tent discussion." She sat up since his mind went elsewhere, balanced on his lap as he rose as well.

"I'd have thought that erased from your mind. Drugs do that." The chancellor raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Re-evaluating surreal moments has been an objective of today."

Nyx made sure of that.

"Go on, I'm intrigued."

More than intrigued, downright enflamed at a new avenue to explore in his two millennium-long period on Eos. Things could get boring after a while.

Imperatrix loosely draped her arms over Ardyn's broad shoulders, flirtation coming to the front. "Nyx was an experience."

He made a noise of surprise, interest peaked and petitioned sensually. "Do tell, Dearest Musa. I thought this day might never come."

Two slots filled of her golden-three rule.

The chancellor bit off his gloves, calloused hands roaming over and under her nightwear. She whispered a provocative tale in her lover's ear, egged on by his quivering groans.

Two.

Blessed stars, Imperatrix now possessed two consorts. The Eros and Agape of the set.


	20. Chapter 20

As a birthday present to myself, here's the next chapter! I'm mind-blown that I've managed to reach this age and finally got my degree in the mail. Hello real world and prepare to eat me alive! Lol, I'm so not ready for the next stage of life. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. A great birthday present would be some reviews. I did have a user on Tumblr send me some fanart of Imperatrix a week ago and not going to lie, I cried a little. I don't care what anyone says about fanfiction, it's legit writing that touches people's lives in unexpected ways, exactly like published writing.

 **Latin**

 **Veni, vidi, vici** \- I came, I saw, I conquered.

 **Ad populum** \- For the people.

 **French**

 **Sous-merde** \- Someone not even worthy of being called a shit.

 **Sacré bleu** \- Sacred blue. A substitute for "Sacré dieu", meaning "sacred god" and considered blasphemy to the French for speaking the holy name in vain. Plus no one says this anymore, it's outdated.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Nyx, what is this about?" Imperatrix grilled him for the third time after the glaive cornered her in the hallway, absconding with her to his room, covering her eyes, and telling the princess not to peak.

"You'll see." He repeated for the third time, equally as huffy. "Ask again and I'll pinch your butt."

"You would not dare."

"I would actually. Done worse if you recall."

"Nyx!"

"You were screaming that too."

"Ugh!"

" _That too_."

The man concluded his teasing fest, bringing the princess to a stop in front of his desk. He took his hands off her eyes, leaning into her ear.

"Look, baby."

Imperatrix obeyed and gasped after looking downward. "It's stunning!"

Gone was the cluttered mess she saw previously when cleaning Nyx's room, in its place a magnificent tiara.

A great blue seashell surrounded by smaller ones made up the foundation of the circlet. The rainbow scales they'd discovered in Galahd decorated the middle section, catching the light and reflecting its prism into the world. On the top layer diverging outward, were silver branches encrusted with jewels.

An oceanic-themed crown fit for one of Leviathan's fabled mermaid children who ruled under the sea.

"It is so palatial." Imperatrix praised profusely, bending closer to admire the craftsmanship, fingers hovering cautiously near the decorations. "Did you make this?!"

She doubted the level of his skill when he told her childhood memories of crafting for his sister. The princess really had to stop labeling Nyx as arrogant. Confident would be better term seeing as his skills often backed up his boasts.

"Yeah…for you, Impera."

The woman froze, cheeks warming hotly and faced the glaive. "For me? Why?"

He grinned at the shy steak, tucking some hair out of her eyes just to fluster Imperatrix more.

Mission accomplished by the deeper flush.

She melted at the affection, smitten into smiling so tenderly that Nyx almost forgot what he was about to say. His heart started beating faster and he would have gotten the blush bug were it not for him coughing away the silliness.

Woman flustered him once at the club, it wouldn't happen again. He wasn't the swooning kind of guy.

"I told you I'd make a crown so amazing you'd want one for your sisters." The glaive boasted one last time before he sobered into a serious manner, hand squeezing a smaller one. "I know it's not a replacement, but I hope it makes up for the diadem. I wouldn't be alive if you didn't sacrifice it."

He owed her a fair bit.

"Oh, this...I cannot..." At the moment so many feelings were bubbling in Imperatrix's stomach. She babbled out rubbish at Nyx's kindness.

The princess felt giddy enough to kiss him, wanted to do so and found herself leaning closer to him. Nyx didn't notice the cue, eyes elsewhere in remembrance.

"As well as thanks for the gear." The man added.

Nebula's rant over how the princess was blowing through her income for him and Lunafreya was still fresh in his mind.

While Genius did a check-up on Nyx's equipment, he conversed with his brother about linking a lock-on and multi-fire system between a sniper rifle and a visor. Naturally after hearing all this, the glaive wanted a similar level of badass for his bow.

Imagine, a bow firing off dozens of arrows with one loose. Goodbye enemies!

Nyx Ulric the Hero was still in business, still as staggering, and still as handsome, even with his magical powers gone, kukri gone, and face sort of scarred like a broken china doll. He was a hero got dammit!

His request incited the eldest Besithia to interrogate Nyx. The glaive had a moment of idiocy when money, namely Gil, came into question.

Call him stupid...but he was under the impression that Imperatrix got things for free as the imperial princess, like some kind of promotion agreement with the arms dealers. Royalty endorsing products was income by itself.

People would buy the shit of weapons used by the Unbreakable Sword, the White Princess, the Blooming Red Lotus and every other grandiose moniker Imperatrix obtained over the years.

Nyx also admitted...to being spoiled by King Regis's magic and that was why money hadn't crossed his mind.

Everybody in the citadel pretty much used weapons connected to the Armiger. They never had to purchase replacements or worry about losing a weapon. Those chosen to wield magic could call forth an unlimited supply of weapons.

The exceptions were the Royal Arms, which could only be accessed by Caelums and bestowed on servants at their preference. From what he knew, Clarus was the only one honored with that privilege by King Regis.

No telling how Noctis felt about sharing his special collection.

The mechanics behind the Armiger didn't make much sense to him. For example, how did everybody in Kingsglaive lose magic when Regis died, but the weapons didn't disappear? Did they get expelled from the Armiger? How were they all using the same items?

Libertus owned his spare kukri and Nyx kept the other as more of a memento than a weapon. Tiny thing was primarily for warping and kill strikes, not actual fighting.

Better to not question the magic of the world. He was starting to understand that some of it had no rhyme or reason.

Just roll with it.

Nebula corrected Nyx's entire line of thinking on imperial armament.

Imperatrix got a discount since the royal family purchased gear like crazy for the Praetorian Guard and themselves, but they still had to pay thousands of Gil, fees that regular citizens or soldiers couldn't afford. Out of the royals, she paid for most the retainer's equipment, leaving more allowance money in her younger sister's accounts for them to spend on mundane things.

For a few minutes the gunman broke into a side-rant of how this was why the princess found herself often on a tight budget. She was forever using it on other people and then crying over her empty accounts when unforeseen money issues popped up.

That visor didn't move off Nyx the entire time of Nebula's creepy monologue in that voice scrambler. Returning to the original line of conversation gave the glaive back his ability to breathe.

How could the guy petrify others with a look when his face was hidden behind a mask?

Rich nobles, commanders, and the ranks above were the only ones whom could afford the Besithia merchandise. Having their products could be the difference between life and death outside the safety of the cities.

Which was why the prospect of Genius mainlining his inventions to all was such a feat.

Nyx theorized where the imperials suddenly got the cash to fund arming their entire military. It tweaked him into anger, but knowing how trigger-happy Nebula was, he didn't broadcast his disgruntled tantrum.

He also didn't want to keep coming to blows with these people since they were now his indefinite traveling companions. Imperatrix would ease up too if he was less acerbic to her friends.

The glaive left the accusation of a plundered Insomnia in the back of his head. The hunter did still call the imperials assholes as he left the cargo area where the scientist set up his lab.

The automatic door saved him from a dart in the back.

"Thank you so much, Nyx. I will treasure it always." Imperatrix promised with a radiant smile to liquefy a man's legs.

"Do I get a kiss for a job well done?"

He predicted a fail since the woman periodically played difficult -to his chagrin and amusement- but she caught him off guard by bracing herself on his shoulders and leaning upward on her toes to indulge him. It happened so unexpectedly that Nyx let her get away with kissing the tail-end of his mouth.

Close, but no dice. This one…always playing hard-to-get.

"Hey now, quit being a tease! You know what I meant." The glaive didn't allow her to back up, snaking his arms around her waist, returning her to the fold.

"So rude and ungracious. That was a proper kiss of gratitude from royalty." Imperatrix stayed still in the hold, rather liking the cage.

Earlier he missed his chance to kiss her.

Ardyn wouldn't trap her like this, responding only to her embracing him and then becoming an enclosure of love. She was very accustomed his follow-the-princess playbook.

Frequently, Nyx was so demanding and assertive in his actions. This would be new territory for Imperatrix and she would have to fight her instincts of being the initiator.

For him…she was willing to try.

"This is how you thank people in Niflheim?"

"Yes. It is how we greet and say goodbye as well. We can be an affectionate people in the right atmosphere."

"Show me."

Imperatrix sighed fondly, bestowing the consolation Nyx desired. Without the heels of her shoes, a bigger gap in their height lead to him lifting the princess off her feet in his eagerness to deepen the kiss.

Subsequently different…heated and consuming to Ardyn's cool and doting. Nyx still elicited the same blithe thrill in her chest.

She opened her mouth to his prodding tongue, giving leeway to feelings over logic. Each press of him to her roused Imperatrix for more and they continued taking ownership of the other's lips. Their actions escalated to the princess being dropped onto the desk, Nyx's hands roaming and her leaning back to encourage more touches upon her body.

The woman squeaked into his mouth at feeling something poking into her back. "Nyx…Nyx, stop!"

"What? Why?" He panted, thwarted in caressing her chest by Imperatrix twisting in his hold.

"I don't want to break it." She picked up the tiara, holding it between them.

It almost got smashed from the glaive pushing her back on the desk.

"It's both flattering and irritating that you're so focused on that instead of what I'm doing to you."

"I have no time for pleasures either." The princess lightly thrust him off, crossing her legs to staunch the ache and prevent Nyx from re-claiming the spot. "I have an appointment with Izzy and then training before we enter the tower."

"Busy day for you. Do you even know how to take it easy?" The man tugged on his pants since he was in another predicament thanks to this femme fatale.

Luckily, she was hot and a decent person, so Nyx wouldn't stay mad for long about being blocked for the dozenth time.

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Plenty. I need only four to function." Imperatrix slid off the desk after collecting herself.

When they left Balouve they weren't far from Costlemark. It was still dark when the princess landed the ship. After letting the Besithia siblings onto Setzer, she retired to her room with Ardyn. Whether or not he slept was up for debate and more concerning than her reduced respite.

How many days had he been awake now?

"You sound crazy. Nobody should be as alert as you with that kind of setup." The glaive fell onto his bed.

Unlike her, he was fine with being lazy till the next meal. Why tire himself out when they would be dungeon grinding later?

"You are the second person to commentate on my abnormality." Imperatrix mumbled, just noticing the drawer she accidentally opened in her descent. "What is this?"

Inside was another gorgeous piece of jewelry. A seashell styled as a locket. The chain link was lined with pearls.

"That's Luna's. I'll give it to her later when Ravus isn't breathing down her neck."

"You are excellent at this!" She commended. "It is incomprehensible with your looks and personality weighed in."

"I resent that, Impera!"

Her childish awe was heartwarming to him.

Working in between all their missions didn't give him exclusive focus and Nyx spent about two months on the items, projects tucked and hidden in his bag.

He planned to ask Imperatrix out while they were in Lestallum and give her the tiara at the end of the date. A cheesy, romantic gambit the glaive wouldn't normally use as a game plan, but Storm suggested it as the best course to winning over the princess than the sleezeball aggression he believed was flirting.

How she knew he'd come on strong to the princess was anybody guess. Maybe the glaive spilled a little more information to her than he thought.

Storm was ferociously sexy though and knew how to conversate with a guy. Not surprising he was a bit of a motor mouth with her after Imperatrix had him up and down on the emotion scale.

Club atmosphere and alcohol…man…

The best laid plans go to waste though. The snowy imperial executed her own stratagem. Not that Nyx had too much of a problem with how things turned out.

He enjoyed every bit of their devil-may-care night. In fact, the man wanted a repeat, was even prepared for it now after a trip to the pharmacy. They didn't have what he originally went for, but he still walked out with items to prevent another blunder on his part.

Nyx…would have to cross that bridge when it popped up. Yesterday's flight of fancy was still there, burrowing deeper and deeper, like a mole searching for its new home, but there were a lot of logistics to consider.

"I used to make things like that all the time for Selena." The glaive shared wistfully at Imperatrix inspecting the circlet at different angles, giggling to herself about something.

Probably imagining an outfit to go with it.

His sister did something similar when he gave her trinkets. She never wore them the way he intended though.

"She must have loved you dearly for it." The princess hesitated to say what was on her mind at the mention of his family, but after envisioning how her own might feel, she managed to profess. "You should visit your mother. Tell her of your condition."

The mood darkened.

Nyx stared adamantly at the floor, running his hand down his face. Imperatrix hastened to his side, gripping onto his arm to make him look at her.

"She needs to know, nay has a right to know of her boy. Such ill news is not shared over the phone."

"What was it you told me?" The glaive turned his frown to the mobile device on the desk. An ivory menace. "A shared sorrow is half a sorrow?"

He talked to his mom a couple days ago, listening to her carp about the idiot teenagers sneaking into his bar for liquor and how much trouble it caused her when the parents complained.

The ex-glaive wasn't doing a good job of policing Hypnosis. His lack of vigilance would be addressed in Nyx's next phone call to the big guy.

Ah damn.

Libertus needed to know too. The oaf was practically his brother. He'd sob worse than Imperatrix and it wouldn't be any kind of cute to witness or listen to.

"This sorrow is going to double if I share. Triple even." Nyx sighed. "Mom's gonna be devastated..."

The princess scooted closer, slipping her arms around his waist. He moved his arm to return the embrace.

"Oh, my poor Darling. There is no easy path for this and you must walk it, but it need not be alone. This is what family is for, comfort in a time of misfortune. Be not afraid to seek out that solace."

After wallowing for a few minutes, Nyx lifted his head off Imperatrix's to mumble out. "When?"

"Right after this exploration."

"You've still got one place to go." He argued the swift deadline, dread building to face reality that soon.

"I will not expose you to the rock's extreme heat and fumes." She stood, unmoved by his seeming procrastination. "Your clock is ticking, waste not a second of your time."

Nyx winced.

"If you still plan on going to Altissia with us, this could be your last chance to see your mother for a very long time. Who knows how long it will take for us to negotiate with the secretary on behalf of Lunafreya."

"Is this how you feel when I win an argument? Cause I'm bummed. I got nothing."

Imperatrix hit him.

"Hey, I'm terminal! You can't do that."

She did it again, harder for the insensitive joke.

"Too soon?"

A third time.

"Goddam it, stop!"

"Don't joke about your health, it upsets me!" The princess shoved him onto the bed. "I will see you later."

The woman got her tiara and huffed, on route to the door.

"Hold up!" Nyx seized the princess by the hips, yanking her onto the bed, sprawled in his lap. "If you're going to hit me three times, you ought to kiss me at least once. Balance it out."

Imperatrix hummed. "An intriguing proposition."

The glaive grinned triumphantly, preparing for the trophy. She leaned in, gripping his chin to do as expected. Right at the finish line, the sword master feinted, popping him on the face instead.

"Nice try. The ratio of hits should be increased and then I might agree."

Nyx laughed, rubbing his cheek. He was amused and frustrated to see Imperatrix leave.

She stopped by her room first to put the headpiece into safekeeping in her suitcase. The princess also fixed her clothing after spying her reflection, saving herself from a mortifying incident of explaining why her tunic was unbuttoned and bra misaligned.

The woman was already intensely horrified to realize she walked the hallways in a state of disarray. Thank the heavens no one witnessed this lapse!

Tempesta and Nebula already had a sixth sense for knowing when Imperatrix did something worth needling her about. Her behavior around Nyx hadn't shifted too much at lunch, but somehow, they were clued in to her new romance.

How? How did they know?!

The fist fighter wouldn't stop hooting, eyes hidden behind her mask, but still giving off a leer to the pair that they could feel prickling their skin. The gunman was no better, blatantly staring.

The sixth degree became even more aggravating when the freckle menaces added Ardyn into the ogling game when he waltzed into the dining room, to which he snickered off after realizing what was going on. With how much he began eyeing Nyx and her, thoughts running wild with illicit fantasies, things were just too heated for the princess.

She kept consuming frigid glasses of water in an attempt to temper herself…but it didn't work.

An absurd, arch part of Imperatrix wanted to behave like the chancellor, all cheeky confidence, leaning back in the chair to survey the game board. Under the scrutiny of the masses, the princess would preen boldly.

A dragon hoarding its treasure, jewels being her two consorts.

All that was utterly unseemly and she did no such thing in front of her retainers, instead bowing her head in internal chastisement.

These men were having a scandalous effect on her sense of propriety. What kind of princess was she becoming?

A terrible figure of lust, greed, and gluttony…

"Now, now. Haste makes waste, my lady. We needn't another failed mixture."

Imperatrix leaned over the railing, spying the chancellor looming over the oracle as she mixed ingredients into a beaker.

"Your Highness, how good of you to join us!" Ardyn waved genially at the princess as she descended the stairs, eyes wicked and adoring.

Once she was on the ground floor, he gestured to his newest pupil.

"Care to join Lady Lunafreya in her alchemic endeavors? She could use an assistant to keep time for her." He threw up his hands in defeat. "She either leaves it bubbling too long or too short. There's no middle ground with this one!"

"You took my advice, I see." Imperatrix stood beside the blonde, examining the table of contents.

Lots of bones and teeth from Daurell Caverns, plenty of herbs, shafts, and stones. A witch's classic potion materials.

The princess smothered a titter, knowing her line of thinking would get the woman into trouble with Lunafreya.

"I saw them working and became curious. I did not expect the chancellor to put me through a trial." She blew out air, carefully stirring the liquid meant to be a fire concoction.

Ardyn insisted on starting the girl off on the basics when she offered to help Genius, who was buried in multiple projects, abruptly flitting between them in chaotic pattern.

No one had been able to coax the boy out of his work frenzy.

"Well, I couldn't let you run wild. What kind of peer would I be then?" The red head lounged in a chair after completing his round of monitoring the blend. "Turn down the heat and let it cool."

Again. Why did he feel the need to butt into her affairs? Acting as Lunafreya's better?

She turned the dial, capping the bottle as it glowed orange. The blonde smiled proudly at her success. "Fire in a bottle."

"Good, good, my lady."

"I think I am read-"

"Now repeat that process six times without fail and I'll allow you to brew a Firaga." The chancellor cut her off, flippantly rolling his hand towards the bin of empty beakers waiting to be crafted into deadly weapons.

Really, why had he bothered to help her?

He could've said no when she popped in. Finished the batch in record time and moved on to the next. The chancellor could do all this in his sleep.

Ardyn was simply too helpful to these pitiful Chosen Ones, cultivating them was his Achilles Heel. He should be less hands-on. Lord knows that's how it was for him back in the day.

Tasked to set out alone by his father, a prince of light to heal the world of its scourge, to rid the world of its daemons. All of his struggle was for the people…for…

The Fool and the Star.

Lunafreya and Noctis looked so much like them…his…

No, no, no!

This kind of behavior lead to his downfall!

Love did this! Imperatrix was making him soft again!

But what could Ardyn do?

He absolutely couldn't bear having no part in her life. The year she was gone left a fissure the daemons took full advantage of, their malice twisting his soul and killing the light.

While the chancellor managed to focus on plans and get work done, he spent the nights in weeping despair among the howling winds outside of Gralea, inked tar peeling off the skin of his cheeks and burning holes into the snowy ground.

When he didn't feel like being pitiful, the red head summoned the night monsters, slashing out his rage on them for ruining everything. They showed no opposition to his executions, bowing to him as their master.

It all sickened him.

This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out! He was the Sage Prince, a Son of Light!

How did he do everything right and good, selflessly giving himself for the greater good to end up in Purgatory? Forgotten and alone in boundless torment that even death couldn't end?!

To darkness he drowned.

Ardyn hated himself.

"Don't deviate from the notes."

Lunafreya gave her approximation of a glare, which when aimed at anyone other than Ravus, honestly wasn't one. More like a ridiculous frown a kitten would mewl at.

She could thank her oracle genes for that. Couldn't have the beloved healer of Starscourge looking anything less than cherubic to fool the masses into reverence.

Dim-witted gods, especially a sword-crazed reptile that had a penchant for hiding in the Astral Plane.

Oh, how Ardyn loathed Bahamut!

He so wished to see the Draconian expelled from this world into Etro's domain. Old gods save the emperor for slaying him.

"I am more than capable of doing this without your say so."

"Your magical awareness as an oracle doesn't give you natural insight to elemancy. In your hubris an explosion could easily be caused." The chancellor put Lunafreya down without a second thought, tipping his hat up to expose more of his dangerous smirk. "Unless...that's what you want? Finally decided to kill the imperial scum you hate so much?"

His mood was thoroughly spoiled.

She gasped, appalled at the accusation. Pryna barked angrily at the offender.

He'd forgotten the wretched thing was here. Before the red head could nettle the blonde more, Imperatrix pushed his fedora down, covering the top portion of Ardyn's face.

"Ignoring the slander, he is right. Learning the basics is crucial." The princess stated, pushing harder on the accessory to counter the man tugging it up.

With how strong he was, the chancellor could've dislodged her. His playful side won over and Ardyn went along with game.

Simmered down from her indignation, Lunafreya blinked at the exchange.

This terrible man could be normal? Or was Imperatrix just able to interact with anyone, craziness unheeded?

"Have you learned this as well, Impera?"

The oracle would rather learn from the princess than this hazard. His glib comments behind a fake smile got under her skin. If the chancellor didn't like her, why engage her?

"I have...tried the art..." She crossed her arms, avoiding eye contact.

"Then..." Lunafreya prompted, hoping that would be enough for the woman.

At Imperatrix's grimace and hesitancy, the imp sniggered. "Oh, just tell her, my dear. The poor girl's feelings might get hurt otherwise."

A bark from Pryna exemplified the oracle's thoughts perfectly. He could shut his face.

"I am...unfit to teach you. Despite his barbs, Ardyn is the best."

The man removed his fedora, placing it over his heart and smiled at the one singing his praises. "Your words bring me the greatest joy, Princess!"

How they did.

Musa was the one to start his lessons in alchemy and magic, being a master of the arcane herself. Spending so much of his time on weapons training with his father left Ardyn lacking in magical abilities. Before her, he didn't go beyond healing and item enchantments.

Knowing of her previous occupation as a magus led to the chancellor guiding Imperatrix onto the same path, once more emphasizing how full-circle their relationship could be.

Many of the things she taught him in the previous lifetime, the red head now taught her.

However, Etro had a funny sense of humor in this particular case of reincarnation. The princess's extraordinary inadequacy in alchemy destroyed any hope of her becoming another grand magus with a memorable epithet.

Not only did his wife not remember him, she also lacked key attributes that would ensure her survival when the prophecy came to pass. Ardyn had to wonder if he was doomed from birth.

Unfortunate children like him often were.

Curse his father!

"You cannot be that unsatisfactory." Lunafreya maintained, finding it hard to imagine Imperatrix struggling with anything.

She seemed too versatile to be inferior at anything combat related.

"Yes, I am." The princess refuted. "Ardyn will tell you."

"Everything she makes goes up in bangs!" He provided sound effects to his rendition of a big boom. "Give her instructions, constant supervision, plenty of help and things still manage to go awry. Imperatrix is the absolute, undisputable champion of magic mayhem."

The woman wilted at the abundance of truthful insults, hardly comforted by the red head's pats to her shoulder.

"Just like your driving skills, it's nothing to be ashamed of, my dear."

"You are not making me feel better…" She pitifully mumbled the next bit under her breath. "I laud him and this is what I receive?"

The emperor banned his daughter from all alchemic endeavors in the palace and then garden grounds when she and Ardyn moved the lessons to outside.

No amount of explaining or book readings could get through to Imperatrix. She simply blanked out or things went over her head. Eventually the princess gave up, not wanting to waste the chancellor's time and tired of causing that broken expression to cross his face each time she failed.

The sessions only resulted in hurt. Her cancelling them concluded in another quarrel and period of separation for them.

Whatever fantasy the man wanted to reenact with her was out of Imperatrix's ability.

"While you may be inept at elemancy, you are exceptional with weaponry. Imperfection is an entitlement of mortals, it's how you evolve." Ardyn flicked a paper ball at the princess, hitting her on the side of the face.

At her scowl, he mimed for the paper to be opened.

"Isn't that a more exciting way to live?"

Imperatrix sucked in a breath at the big heart drawn in the middle.

"Why are you balling up the notes?" Lunafreya asked, a measure away from exclaiming and in the middle of a new project.

"I thought you were _so confident_ in your skills, they weren't necessary?" He taunted, folding up a new piece of paper.

She bristled.

Terrible, terrible urges...

Six preserve her, this man was going to make her take a page out of Ravus's violent book.

"Shall we race, my lady? Can you finish the six spells before I fold all these?"

The notes were gathered into a pile for Ardyn to play out his game. He was already halfway through his first item. Perhaps he should slow down, give the girl a handicap to make it less boring.

"I know how difficult origami is, especially from memory."

The oracle learned how to do it from a book. When there weren't any sylleblossoms in bloom, Lunafreya would fold flowers to send Noctis.

Why did the chancellor even know such a feminine pastime?

What an odd man.

"If you lose, you're going to have to do something for me."

"And if I win, I would like that book."

Ardyn glanced at the tome. It was a Latin translated version of a volume Musa wrote for beginners. Out of boredom, he'd transcribed this one with a few additions of his own.

"As you wish, Lady Lunafreya."

Parting with the old thing wouldn't kill him. Not that the chancellor was going to lose to an oracle. Not ever again…

Thus, the match began.

Folding up flowers and handing them off to Imperatrix got the red head to thinking about the magic conundrum again.

Nothing he'd done could bring out the natural talent he stood in awe of two millennia ago. Maybe the princess needed more exposure to awaken her magic. So far, being around Lunafreya was making her sensitive to it, but not in command of it.

The fact that Eos was so deprived of magic in this age was another issue. The Astrals were the last remaining gods and they weren't inclined to share that mystical essence with unchosen mortals, not after the Ifrit catastrophe…and then his debacle.

Whew…two thousand years had undoubtedly set humans back.

In his day practically everyone could use magic, it was commonplace. Now the Fleurets and Caelums were the sole magic users and they were disgustingly weak compared to their founders.

A king and an oracle...the Fool and the Star, the traitors.

Imperatrix would require something substantial to reach the next level of advancement. Couldn't have her falling behind Noctis.

"I do not understand the theory. All of it…addles me." The princess described at the behest of Lunafreya, laughing when Umbra jumped into her lap, licking at her face. "Do you understand it, Luna?"

She scratched at his ears. The ebony dog always tried to cheer her up.

Ardyn glowered at this interaction. He wanted to snap the canine's neck. The Divine Messengers irritated him as much as the Astrals did.

All their ilk made him want to rage.

The little shit and Pryna also used to be humans. For that reason, the chancellor knew Umbra's friendliness with Imperatrix wasn't as innocent as she thought.

"As clearly as music." Lunafreya responded to the princess, mouth twitching negatively at the pile of flower cranes on the other side of the table.

The oracle was losing and that meant the book would be out of her reach! She wanted more time to study the notations on formulas.

How could a spell be of two natures? Harmful to enemies and helpful to companions by adding curative materials to offensive spells?

It made no sense!

Neither did dual casting. Two spells crafted into one vial could unleash a blizzard and a fire in succession.

Magic could be madness! There was so much for her to learn.

"How is your other power coming along? Song Magic is a gift of the oracles." Ardyn crossed his legs at the ankle, reclining in the chair to take a break from showering his favorite snowdrop in paper lotuses.

The man looked like he was about to throw the match in favor of covering his face with the fedora and taking a nap. Maybe his fingers went numb.

The book was still in Lunafreya's grasp!

"You must be so lost without your family grimoires."

"How do you know about that?!" She nearly spilled the burning liquid on her fingers. "And they are not 'grimoires', they are sacred texts!" The oracle shrieked when a stray fleck from the bubbling concoction did burn her. "Sacré bleu!"

What an ugly connatation to use! Her family wasn't a hedge of witches, casting hexes and curses on people!

Why did the chancellor have to be so callous to her?!

"Did she just…who says that anymore?" Imperatrix mumbled to Umbra, who batted his nose into her face. "Ack, sorry!"

"Ravus keeps all those nifty Fleuret artifacts in the Papal Basilica of Nox." The red head shrugged, minding his own tune and dancing for no one else. "Doesn't want just anyone getting their hands on them after that awful _security breach_ so long ago."

What a saint Ardyn was, dropping all these helpful hints to a thick-headed disciple.

Lunafreya glazed over the poke to a devastating event in Tenebraen history to zero in on the actual piece of importance. "Do you speak of the trid-"

He brought a finger to his lips, shushing her and looking beyond the girl's head. The oracle felt a malice creep up her back. Turning around, she glimpsed Ravus interrogating them with his mismatched eyes.

The high commander couldn't have heard anything since he was still composed. She would get more answers later.

"Hello, Ravus. Are you feeling better?" Imperatrix, ever the gracious one, encouraged him to approach.

She grunted as Umbra leapt off her lap to circle around the elder Fleuret. Pryna finally rose from her position of faithful guard to the oracle, joining her brother to dance around their other charge.

"Yes." Was his clipped answer, frown softening from the attentions of the princess and the canines. "Has Genius forgone his stipulation of assessments?"

"Not exactly." She leaned over the back of the chair, sighing at the teenager in the same mania of maintenance.

It was late afternoon now.

Her tiredness after flying kept Imperatrix from prohibiting the scientist from working instead of sleeping, but she ought to have denied him. Weaning Genius off unhealthy habits was one step in the direction of rehabilitating him into a functioning citizen.

The empire didn't need another Verstael, a man with no value or respect for human life. The youngest Besithia's brilliance was perfectly fine and she supported his aspirations, but he would forge on with a capacity for empathy.

There could be no good without bad, balance was upheld by permitting one mad scientist in Gralea. With the war concluding there wouldn't even be a need for the research chief and his vile tendencies would end.

Imperatrix loved the Besithias but their lives were tragic. All of them deserved better and it would be given to them.

"Should you not intervene?" Ravus provoked, eager to get this over with.

He was obligated to receive periodic check-ups on his magitek arm and Genius could send a report to his father for this month, saving the high commander a trip to the facility.

"I will try." Imperatrix got up, hovering behind the albino. "Izzy?"

He didn't respond to her, methodically switching between scribbling notes and squeezing drops of a chemical onto bullet rounds. She slowly touched his shoulder, shaking it when Genius didn't react aggressively.

Experience with Nebula's work ethic made it clear that the hyper-focused Besithias needed to be disturbed with extreme caution.

The princess lost count how many times the gunman almost harmed her for snapping him out of a workflow. His brothers were all as volatile, but far less dangerous than the ace of the family.

"Izzy? Darling, you must take a break." Imperatrix became distracted from shaking the boy after the computer screen nabbed her awareness. "Oh! Are those the Aurora designs?!"

The one displayed was a similar setup to the magitek soldiers. Variation in color scheme and slimmer casing distinguished it from the standard.

Imperatrix grimaced.

She couldn't let Genius go through with the option. Utility trumped most factors, but even the princess had limits for how much presentation could be sacrificed. The armor would become a second skin for her. To be worn for a lifetime or until it fell apart, the getup had to be more to the woman's taste.

While the scientist continued ignoring the princess, she scrolled through the layers of designs.

A model of armor comparable to General Glauca's made Imperatrix pause. Honoring her mentor wouldn't be so bad. For all his faults, the mystery man elevated a weak girl to a fierce sword master. She could stand here today because of him.

She hoped he was alive somewhere...finding his truth. Not a rotting corpse in ruins.

One day he might return to her and tell Imperatrix of the man behind the metal. Glauca or Titus Drautos?

The princess wanted closure.

"As emblematic as it would be...I desire variety."

The albino still paid no mind to the older woman's ramblings, calculating formulas for his projects. He scratched at his head, digging in too deep from forgetting how less shaggy it was from the haircut. His scalp burned, but only the scorch in his mind registered for Genius.

Things weren't coming together for the sword. Something was missing.

"Oh! I love this!" Imperatrix enthused, captivated by the final layer, a divergence of style from the others and very familiar to her.

By Ardyn's hand, a masterpiece was crafted for the princess.

The armor was sleek, lightly plated for speed and maneuverability. A beacon of silvery-white with red accents lining the entirety and on the chest plate, creating a lotus. The under suit fabric was a deep violet. At the shoulder pads were crimson capes fluttering to the knees. The crowning feature was the helmet, styled like a dragon.

All that magnificence alone was enough to awe Imperatrix, but the chancellor made it his job to completely overwhelm people.

A sword and shield were featured in the drawing as well.

Golden twin dragons facing one another made up the majority of the burgundy shield; a gleaming protector to repel all attacks.

A greater sized xiphos of the same coloring would be the blade to cut through all, glorious in its middle interior of intricate gold embellishments and crystal components. What truly astounded her was the side notation for an inscription inlaid in the metal.

"Veni, vidi, vici. Ad populum." Imperatrix teared up at the exquisiteness of it all.

Ardyn saw her in a way no one else did or ever would. In that moment she wanted to hug him but couldn't with everyone else present.

The chancellor broke off from a Fleuret discussion over their dogs to go to the princess, who was giving him those eyes of love that swept everything else away. It was a look that made him imagine music in the background, Muses themselves weaving together a moment of flawless beauty between two lovers.

Musa...

Oh, how her first mother named a child so perfectly, for she was a divine creation of the nine Muses. To gaze upon her was the spirit of contentment.

"There was no doubt in my mind... I knew you would like it..." The red head breathed out, amber fixated on cerulean, fingers itching to touch Imperatrix's cheek, desperate for a connection. "How could I go wrong using Tellus as a guidepost?"

Where other memories were lost or faded, the ones of his treasured friends shined bright. He was happiest with them after being tossed out into the world on an odyssey by his father.

Much of the drawing was a deviation on the founding emperor's armor, what Ardyn could remember of it. Although, Tellus favored more gold and intricacies on his armor, befitting his station as an heir presumptive of two kingdoms.

He adored red more, life's color...white became a Gralean style fixture long after his reign…

Origins aside, the impressive man seemed more like an incarnate of light than Ardyn did when he was human, which was ironic. A sun in his own right with all that charisma and potential.

Of course Tellus's descendant should be equally as illustrious.

Even though she couldn't remember it, Imperatrix deserved to have this connection. He should have grown up alongside her…but fate wouldn't have it.

The mother in this lifetime birthed only one of the two Alders. Any one of the miscarriages or the stillbirth could have been his dearest Tellus.

Valeria would have instinctively named the baby Majeed, re-drawing the circle of life as she did with Imperatrix by naming her Janan. Persian and Gralean identities…

Maddening wheel…

"Ardyn..." The rest of the princess's watery speech went into Farsi, proclaiming a depth of love for the chancellor as she embraced him.

He stumbled back, catching her in his arms. The Fleurets were mystified at the woman's sudden elation and animated exclamations in a foreign tongue only Ardyn could understand.

The red head was both happy and astonished by Imperatrix's open display. Did she no longer care for her reputation?

He assumed her newfound indifference to discovery to be a joke. Which was why he still snuck out of her room and didn't initiate too much contact in front of judging eyes.

Clearly, the princess hadn't been kidding. A certain glaive was bringing out ample rashness in her.

How was he to deal with this new boldness? How was he to deal with her in general, when she made him question all his plans?

"Do you see, Izzy? I told you, Impera would choose mine." Ardyn bragged to the scientist, but when there was no response, the chancellor decided to solve everyone's problem by kicking out the boy's chair, making him tumble to the ground.

"Ardyn! Why would you do that?!" Imperatrix let go of him, rushing to help Genius and checking his head for bumps.

"My foot slipped." He raised his hands blithely.

The red head also detested an audience ignoring him. One person got off for doing so.

Speaking of, he hadn't penalized the princess for the year-long silence. A nasty prank was coming her way sooner or later.

"Need something, Maestro?" The teenager for his part showed no signs of anger at the treatment, gazing around the hangar in a daze. "When did all you get here?"

"Never mind that! Get the assessment going already." Ravus fumed.

"Right, right." He reached for his laptop, but Imperatrix griped the collar of his shirt, tugging the boy backwards.

Genius was a hostage of the crown.

"Yes, Impera?"

"Clean yourself up and get Nebula to feed you."

"I am not waiting-"

"Look at him, Ravus. Is Izzy in any state to go outside?" The princess deadpanned over the high commander.

Lo and behold the albino was still decked out in his pajamas. His red eyes blinked incoherently at the attire she found unacceptable.

"Heh...I forgot to shower."

Imperatrix sighed. "You would forget to breathe if it were not an instinctive function."

"Probably."

She gave another helpless look to the elder Fleuret.

He growled, waving snappishly. "Hurry up and recuperate, Genius! I do not have all day."

"You're so unpleasant. This is you have many complaints filed against you." The boy then slugged off at gentle push from the princess.

"Who cares about that?"

"You should." The princess stated.

Lunafreya let out a shudder once the scientist was gone. "His eyes were red..."

Never had she seen a color like that on a human…and they were so blank. No wonder he wore those glasses.

Pryna rubbed against the oracle's leg and she scratched at her ears. Ravus sitting back down at the table caused the younger Fleuret more unease.

After touching the prosthetic, she was beginning to sense more darkness, more chill in her surroundings. Or maybe Lunafreya in her blindness, sheltered from the world, was just now noticing these things.

There was darkness all around, mixing or overwhelming the light. A strange occurrence.

Things weren't black and white.

Her life was growing more complicated by the day.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a flying princess!" Ardyn narrated into a microphone provided by Genius, supplying a play-by-play for the spectators.

Nebula tilted his head up from cleaning his gun, visor scanning the enemy Imperatrix was in full speed retreat from, legs moving so fast that she did look like a bird in flight.

A Hundleg -a centipede-like monster- was on her tail. The creature was weak and no problem for his liege.

"She'll live." He resolved, returning to the cleaning process.

"Impera is deathly afraid of all insect species." The youngest Besithia typed away on his computer, recording statistics of all the current fighters. "How strange for someone like her to have a common phobia."

Nyx, Lunafreya, and Ravus showed no problems with the Hundlegs. Tempesta mostly stood off to the side laughing at Imperatrix.

What a terrible retainer. What terrible retainers both his older siblings were.

"Humans in general tend to dislike species far in appearance from them." The chancellor shivered at the large scissor-jaws clamping at the princess and the slitter noises of the bug's movements. "I'm not a fan of them either. They're so inelegant!"

The high commander chopped off the creature's head, berating Imperatrix for losing her composure like an incompetent girl. The gender slight ticked her off and she clicked the button for elemental activation.

Her sword burst into flames, scorching a series of Hundlegs that snuck up on Ravus.

"Fled in the beginning, but didn't hesitate when someone else was in danger...so illogical..." The scientist mumbled to himself.

"Careful of forest fires, my dear!" Ardyn reminded to the bickering commanders.

Imperatrix startled, sheepishly disengaging the fire asset.

"Why are you doing this?" Nebula asked his younger brother, shooting a stray enemy that slipped past Lunafreya. The remains gave off a charred smell that the chancellor gagged at, pinching his nose shut. "You already have footage from when they were in the mines."

The colored, mechanical birds floating around them were toys of the scientist, used for a variety of things: fighting, friendly company, and video surveillance.

The second group were unaware of the bird AI that followed them into Balouve.

"Impera doesn't know that. I don't want to get into more trouble." The albino grunted noisily. "What if she takes away my toys next? I'll be so bored!"

A blue bird landed on his head, wings flapping and chittering out Genius's name.

Besides building weapons, the youngest Besithia was prolific at creating machines modeled after animals.

Tempesta had a cat. A few other siblings had assortments of pets. These mechanical pals didn't need to be catered to like the regular versions but provided the same comfort.

Genius preferred the AIs to people, they were uncomplicated, loyal, and not replaceable. His creations were unique, unlike all the Besithias.

"Things are heating up in this corner!" Ardyn pronounced, singling out a tussle between Tempesta and Nyx now that the Hundlegs were wiped out. "Will the Hero have to go into retirement?! None have survived a round with the Thundercat, the vicious storm of ferocity!"

"Who's going into retirement?! Not me!" The glaive cried out, in the middle of untangling himself from a chokehold.

"Quit yapping and tap out, punk!" The fist fighter sent them to the ground.

"Never!"

"Don't be a sore loser! Take the beating like a man!"

"No surrender!"

"Play nice, children." The red head guffawed, having too much fun as a commentator. "Or don't."

What started out as an outdoor bout between comrades for Genuis to evaluate the magitek, turned into a battle for survival against a wave of insect vermin. Any that escaped were gunned down by Nebula before they could reach the workshop table hosting the chancellor and youngest Besithia, the unarmed observors.

Not that Ardyn was in any way vulnerable. With a snap of his fingers, blades could rain down in a meteor shower.

Alas, a good magician saved his best tricks for last.

"Lady Lunafreya intervenes in the retainer match! Doesn't she know imperial brawls can only end one way?" The chancellor tittered as the fist fighter flipped the oracle onto her back for helping the glaive. A spectacular display of wrestler might. "Death or glory!"

Tempesta cackled loudly, arms up to the sky for downing two opponents. "Eat that, losers!"

"But it might be too soon to celebrate."

In revenge for his sister, Ravus tackled the boaster.

The stronger of the two slid back from the force but stood strong against the surprise assault. The high commander fought to overwhelm her, his best only bringing them to a groaning standstill.

Normally the Fleuret wouldn't be a physical match for the Besithia, but his arm upped the man's stats.

Ardyn did a theatric twirl, snapping his fingers into a finger-gun at the fighters. "Round two, begin!"

He should sign up to host the next Olympic Games. Add some life to it, instead of sitting in the royal box with the Aldercapts.

Getting paid to insult people trying to kill each other. He was missing out on so much fun!

"Stop instigating, Ardyn!" Imperatrix yelled, ducking the stray bolts of lightning and blocking chunks of flying wood with her shield.

Ravus and Tempesta were tearing up the surrounding forest.

"Without me setting things in motion, the wheel would never turn." He drew circles in the air, beginning to hum "O Fortuna" into the mike, intensifying the drama.

"The Maestro is at work." Genius clicked a song on his computer, riveting chorus taking over for the grinning red head.

"This is why you're my favorite pupil, Izzy." Ardyn patted the boy on the head, moving his hands in accordance to the melody.

A conductor of havoc. They would all dance to his tune.

By the end of the symphony, the forest in their vicinity was destroyed and the guilty demolishers prostrate out on the ground.

"What'd you think of the prince?" Nyx rolled to his back, gazing up at the orange sky.

Lunafreya was close enough to them to overhear and awaited Imperatrix's answer.

"When he was not trying to kill me?" She jested offhandedly, eyes fluttering closed and body relaxing. A messy sort of serene in her posture. "The average whiny brat. I cannot believe he is a prince."

Noctis's anger at her was warranted and the princess took the onslaught of enmity with silent resignation.

What she hadn't taken lying down was his rampant bellyaching during the engagement with the Red Giant. At every interval he complained to the daemon, as if it would lay down its claymore and apologize for being an inconvenience. Gladiolus would then curse him out and demand concentration from the prince.

Those two boys got on her nerves.

Prompto was a bit spastic and wholly unready for real time fighting, more a civilian than a professional like his comrades. His open and expressive personality dug at her conscience.

What could have been for his blood kin...

Getting the others too his level was painstakingly tough. He was everything she wanted for them...

Despite his distaste with her, Ignis remained the most cordial…and shockingly helpful, offering assistance when the Red Giant overwhelmed the princess or she stumbled from injuries.

Contempt aside, Imperatrix liked the advisor best. He was the smartest of the boys.

"Funny. I think the same about you, Impera." Nyx groaned as a foot collided with his leg. "See what I mean?"

"Noctis is not a brat. He is a sweet boy." Lunafreya defended her lamb.

A sweet boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and no reward in wait.

"How would you know? You have not seen, nor spoken with him since childhood." Imperatrix argued, giving a critical eye to the blonde.

She suspected the two were in contact via Umbra and the red book. Why else was the dog always venturing out of his master's presence?

There was also the way the oracle spoke of the prince, in present tense, rather past reminisce. Supplementing her theory was the way the girl never seemed worried like someone unaware of their loved one's circumstances would be.

Lunafreya was too calm and assured about the boy. How else was she getting information?

Gentiana wouldn't waste her time on babysitting a prince…she might though if this prince were the main feature in an ancient Cosmology tale.

Still…it was difficult to imagine the Divine Messenger doing so.

"I know." The blonde affirmed, laying a hand over the seashell locket gifted to her by Nyx.

Within the necklace rested the Ring of the Lucii.

Another duty for her to uphold, protecting the ring until its deliverance to the Chosen King. This obligation was the easiest of them so far. Neither Nyx nor Imperatrix were interested in the item, often pretending it didn't exist, aloofly inquiring if it was safe and then leaving it at that.

Lunafreya didn't understand why the princess never mentioned the Lucian artifact to her fellow imperials, but the oracle was glad for it.

Perhaps witnessing the repercussions of all the unworthy wearing the ring frightened her. Or maybe the she was wiser than others, resisting the temptation of power.

The younger Fleuret need not fear the ring reaching the emperor's hands by way of his daughter.

"Do you now?" Imperatrix goaded, tilting her head to catch the setting sun.

Was a sunset beautiful from its colorful backdrop? Or was it beautiful as the last stroke before night?

"Ravus told me what Noctis...what has transpired at the bases..." Lunafreya clenched her sweats, glaring at the ground. "He was happy to share this information and you were not. Why?"

Her brother was positively gleeful in his malicious slandering of the prince. He informed his sister of how dozens of deaths were at Noctis's feet and worse, how his destructive sprees left the nearby towns defenseless.

The boy's tunnel vision of revenge was putting innocent people at jeopardy and now the high commander was responsible for fixing the situations when he was supposed to be overseeing the reconstruction of Insomnia.

Ravus could be sous-merde. She wanted to slap sense into her brother.

Imperatrix looked from the sky to the oracle, engrossed by the halo around the girl from her elevated position in the princess's eyesight.

Lunafreya was always loved by light. It could make a person envious.

"I have no excuse other than not wanting to hurt you. I apologize, Luna for the secrecy."

The princess knew first-hand how a lover's actions could sour their partner's feelings. Ardyn's excessive promotion of MTs and stealing the emperor's ear were points of contention between them. He knew where the soldiers came from and still pressed for more.

MTs were a complicated subject to handle. The empire's population had declined by a large margin and there weren't enough people to occupy the ranks, which was where the clones filled the vacancies.

Gods, it made her ill to expend the Besithia children as they did…but what could they do? Cities needed to be defended, a war needed to be fought. They didn't have the people after the Glacian's wrath!

Being royal meant making ugly choices and living with them for the sake of the people. The princess had to staunch her tears over treating Verstael's clones like their lives didn't matter.

None of them asked to be born to die…but the crown required it…

The things Imperatrix did for the empire…

"What're you talking about?" Nyx sat up, dusting dirt off his shirt.

"Noctis has destroyed numerous imperial bases." The oracle's shoulders sagged.

Pain beget pain. Hatred beget hatred. Why did their world function in this manner?

"Wait a minute...like...Saxham?" He deduced, recalling how they aided the town.

That Loqi guy was the boss and he was wrapped up in bandages. No telling what pretty boy's face would look like once they came off.

Noctis, a kid younger than Lunafreya...did all that damage. Nyx knew how he would have responded to this before, but now after being around imperials for months...

He could...sympathize a bit with them now...instead of rolling his eyes and sneering out how they earned the destruction.

"Yes and many more."

The glaive nudged Imperatrix. "You never thought to mention that? In fact, you don't seem mad about it."

"I am angry about the matter. The prince has cost us lives, resources, and money. Not to mention endangered the settlements we established, thus ruining our future plan of relocating citizens to a safer environment." She refuted in a calm voice, but her eyes were livid. "However, ranting over events out of my control benefits no one."

Another part of her knew these transgressions were nothing compared to the one her people committed. She couldn't cast stones at the boy.

As the imperial princess she had to bear the shame and guilt of Insomnia.

Shame and guilt, the princess's known companions since late Valeria died protecting her. Only she emerged from the villa alive, only she would walk away from catastrophes alive…

"You protected Noctis in the end, even with that resentment in your heart." Lunafreya remarked, heart lifted somewhat.

Whether he knew it or not, the prince had an ally in the empire.

"I promised his father, did I not?" Imperatrix frowned heavily. "But as I assumed, the fulfillment of such is complex. His actions make it difficult to distinguish the forest for the trees."

She was flirting too much with pessimism right now.

"Keep trying, that is the path to redemption. Helping Noctis is how you save the world."

"Always the impossible..." The princess chuckled weakly. "Yet, I must be unbreakable..."

The three winced at the screech of a gun going off.

Tempesta hastily dropped the incriminating evidence, pointing at Genius when Imperatrix leveled a wordless accusation with her stare.

"Blame Four-Eyes!"

"That's so dumb and irrational no one would believe it, Tempy." He picked the handgun up, returning it to the chaotic fold of Nebula's work area.

"Shut up, pipsqueak!" The fist fighter punched her brother in the head, knocking off his glasses.

"No. You shut up, Pest." The eldest kicked the middle sibling in the back, sending her careening into the air.

Ardyn side-stepped this collision, clicking his tongue at the waft of dust kicked up from the girl face-planting into dirt. He used his hat to clear the air.

"How many times have I told you not to touch my weapons?!

"Ugh...Dandy, help me. I think my back's broken..."

The chancellor kneeled to inspect her, poking at the specified place. She wailed.

"Why yes, it's broken. No movement until it heals. Wouldn't want you turning into a hunchback. There's no bells for you to sing from and ring here."

"You and the Shitty Princess are so freaking stupid with your _stupid references_." Tempesta hissed at him and then raised her voice to threaten the perpetrator for her current crippled state. "I'm gonna kill you, ya evil, shit-faced Geezer!"

"Oh, really?" Nebula cocked a gun. "Please step aside, Lord Chancellor."

The fist fighter got a chill. "Hey, hey, don't leave me to that monster, man! Aren't we cool?!"

"You're pulling my heartstrings, little lady." Ardyn cocked his head at the gunman.

Before a word could be uttered, a dart lodged itself into the girl's back. The red head sighed mournfully at failing his mission.

Tempesta belted out the appropriate level of agony, righting her spinal problem in the spasm. She felt the cold itchiness of the daemon healing the injury.

"I freaking hate you so much! Just go back to smoking packs and die, bastard!"

"If Neb dies, who would cook for you?" Genius retrieved his glasses, blowing off the debris.

The middle Besithia went quiet, hostile posture loosening up. Ardyn patted her helmet as he passed, finding the girl's simple nature quaint.

"Impera would." The fist fighter mutinously crossed her arms.

"You complain all the time that she's an infuriating herbivore eater and the Persian dishes are too spicy."

"What?! Is this truly how you feel?!" Imperatrix bawled out, betrayed.

How many times had she cooked and secretly the dishes were hated?! This was a rejection of her carefully crafted love!

"Izzy, you dipshit! Learn to keep your mouth shut!"

He did so, gesturing to his mouth after a few seconds of silence.

"Are you intentionally messing with me?!"

"Oh, my god! Why are you all so crazy?!" Nyx shouted over the bullshit.

Everyone gathered just sort of stared.

"Do not include me in that statement." Ravus deadpanned, getting startles out a few people since they forgot the broody man was present.

A gloomy cloud that would slowly creep up on the sun…he was more a mood killer than Nebula.

"No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness." Ardyn declared, smiling at his audience of neophytes. "Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be breakthrough. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death."

He knew this best.

Only through a level of insanity could he tolerate what a beast he'd become over the years and the path set upon him by higher powers for a decisive end to his heinous existence.

Ardyn was far from who he used to be.

The previous man, the sage, the healer wouldn't have unleased horror and death upon Eos, plotting the careful downfall of all his enemies in the same manner they'd done him.

Madness gave birth to his revenge and his end.

"Dandy's actually pretty smart, huh?" Tempesta lifted the folded table like it was nothing, lugging that and some other equipment up the ramp of Setzer.

"That shouldn't surprise you. He helps at the facility and the emperor wouldn't have a dummy as his right-hand." Genius iterated in his droll, condescending voice reserved for everyone outside of the royals, his father and the chancellor.

He hopped over the outstretched leg meant to trip him, examining the dirty subjects before him.

"Roll call. Who's entering Costlemark Tower?" The scientist probed, raising his hand to volunteer himself. "I'll be going to collect materials, so don't expect me to actively fight enemies."

"I have entertained your nonsense enough. My assistance ends here." Ravus answered, walking off to text on his phone. "Military matters must be attended to. No one disturb me."

Imperatrix jumped on the opportunity at seeing a gleam in a certain girl's orbs. "Do you protest Luna joining?"

The high commander paused his ascent up the slope, looking down on them. A long, grave observation period followed.

Lunafreya dared not strike his temper by belting out how she proved herself capable and didn't require her brother's permission. Instead she met his gaze, unrelenting resolve to his harsh scrutiny.

"Bring her back in peak condition, Imperatrix." The elder Fleuret decreed, taking a call from Olberg as he went inside the ship.

He trusted the woman to do as asked. She proved able by safely seeing his sister out of Insomnia. A task he couldn't do.

One more failure on his part. One more time he failed to protect his family!

Ravus could hardly remember anything after the Lucian Kings seared off his arm. The pain had been excruciating.

"That was a victory for you, Luna." The princess smiled encouragingly.

"Yes...as you say." She sighed, still feeling belittled.

"Perk up. Small victories lead to greater success." Imperatrix poked the blonde's cheek.

"So that's four. Are you coming?" Genuis questioned Nyx, the last to enter Setzer.

"Four? Don't you mean three?"

The teenager rolled his eyes, pushing the button for the ramp to rise. No one wanted Hundlegs sneaking onboard while they were eating and preparing for the night quest.

"Tempy doesn't turn down a chance to swing her fist." He elaborated for the other Besithia as well. "Neb won't be bothered with another dungeon."

The glaive laughed darkly. "I'm going to get her back. So yeah, count me in."

"A party of five then. I won't have to do anything." Genius stroked the head of his green bird.

Nyx blinked at the kid.

"Yes, Sir Ulric?"

"Your eyes...are red?" He babbled out. "How is that possible?"

"Albinism." The teenager lowered his beamers he'd forgotten to put back on.

Since he switched the shades to night mode, they were displaying the typical information of creatures in the pathfinder.

Strange how the glaive gave off absolutely no magical energy. Every human did, though the numbers were abysmally small quantities that couldn't be used.

Looking at people through these lenses and seeing how inept they were made it hard to believe that a millennium ago magicians, mages, witches and all the other kinds of arcane masters were widespread.

What happened to the magic?

The Fleurets were high in the charts of magical readings. They were living proof that once miracles were accessible to everyone. Exceeding them was the chancellor, who couldn't be properly measured. The computer would give up trying to quantify him, finding the man too powerful.

Ardyn probably knew the answer to why humans stagnated. The red head had to with how knowledgeable he was. He also had to be from the Fleuret or the Caelum families to have so much magic.

Genius itched to know! His mentor always changed the subject or distracted him though.

"Hey, Sav! Catch."

Nyx did so, eyeballing the square pouch with mirth. "Can't remember the last time I had one of these."

The glaive strolled over to the others mellowing out with fruit punch juice boxes.

"What? No beer?" He joked.

Tempesta scowled, noisily slurping the rest of her drink. "Stupid Neb took all the good stuff."

"Hilarious as it is, I can't have you spiking people's drinks. Alcohol and drugs are a dangerous combination." The gunman slapped his sister's hand from the set of beverages. "And I don't want to deal with your drunken fiascos in these close-quarter circumstances."

"Oh, yeah? Well I don't want to deal with your bipolar nicotine withdrawal symptoms." She groused, interlocked in a game of swiping another juice box and failing to get past the older sibling.

Why was the bastard so sharp?! Lazy bum shouldn't be this good!

"Why can't I have another?" The fist fighter whined.

"That's Izzy's. Everybody got one. Don't be greedy."

The middle blonde growled, dropping to the floor in a cross-legged huff. Nebula ignored this tantrum, giving the last red and yellow box to the youngest Besithia.

Genius studied the item, liquid sloshing around in his uneven hold. He knew what Imperatrix would want him to do.

A hand latching onto the top of his head stopped the teenager from preforming the act of generosity and earning the princess's praise.

"As a scientist you've heard of positive and negative reinforcement, eh?"

The youngest nodded, feeling sweat gather at the back of his neck for the tightening grip.

"Don't encourage the pest. Impera might find these stunts endearing but I don't. Got it?"

He nodded again and the pressure left his skull.

Nebula could frighten anyone.

Genius pocketed the juice, not in the mood for it. He held out his arm. The mechanical birds perched on him, tweeting dribble or parroting snippets they heard from conversations.

The boy felt at ease.

Machines were better than humans, better than daemons. So simple and pretty.

"Luna your talents will be best served as support this time." Imperatrix dictated, noting how the Besithias were tensed but at least the air didn't read violence. They'd resolve whatever it was. "Tempesta, myself and Nyx are enough force. Izzy can defend himself but he might need assistance."

She needed to tell them about the boy in Noctis's retinue when a chance presented itself. Prompto was somehow their lost brother.

How did the he end up with the prince?

"Understood. I will focus on healing and light spells." The oracle agreed, slowly savoring the fruity liquid.

"Where'd you come up with all this power? Would've been useful in Insomnia." Nyx chewed on his straw, stealing the princess's refreshment in her spacey daze.

Lunafreya shriveled, feeling like she let the glaive down when he needed her most.

He was right. If she had these abilities back then, the oracle could have saved them a lot of trouble and worry.

Nyx wouldn't be scarred with spider-web liaisons from face to arm…

How bad did the ring damage him? He acted fine but then Nyx went to the hospital, coming back gloomier than Lunafreya had ever seen the man.

Something was wrong. Why wouldn't he tell her?

"My mother showed me what I was capable of." The blonde mussed, eyes misty and swelling with affection. "She shows me things in dreams. This is where the song magic comes from since I do not have our texts."

A garden of sylleblossoms, flowers singing to her. If only Sylva would appear before her daughter, it would be the perfect dreamscapes.

Those idyllic sceneries were her lessons, guided by the previous queen to hone the next ruler into a true oracle. Together they composed sweet melodies.

Between her mother, Pryna and the gods, Lunafreya's head was filled with visions.

"Would you like a notebook, Luna? For writing your thoughts upon waking?" Imperatrix suggested, disturbed like Nyx but more used to these things and able to offer a solution.

The oracle smiled. "That would be useful."

"I have spares. You may have one."

Nyx grabbed the princess before she could walk off.

He waved at Lunafreya when she turned to see why she was going into the hallway alone. "Give us a second."

The blonde moved on, assuming they were going talk out their problems. The two were bizarre all yesterday.

"Are you weirded out by her, too? The kid hallucinates on the regular, loses her memory, and talks crazy. Do we...need to get her medication?" The glaive whispered once they were a duo and not a trio.

Imperatrix pushed him to the wall, which got a confused smirk out of the man.

"That is not an option. Never suggest it again." She stressed, looking out to the stairs where the elder was huddled over the balcony speaking worriedly in French to his wife about Eros's visit to the vet after she ingested something bad at a dinner party.

He may have been too distracted to hear them.

"Do not let Ravus hear you connect instability to his sister. Do not let anyone hear that!"

The church of Tenebrae placed severe stigmas on mental illness. If the cardinals got even a whiff of it in the Fleurets, those men in white wouldn't hesitate to damn the royals as sinners and burn them at the stake.

Zealots the lot of them. As the senators were Gralea's thorn, the cardinals were Tenebrae's.

"Geez, I don't think the kid's crazy… _crazy_." Nyx scowled, affronted. "Just...I don't know! S'not normal what she goes through."

"Are you comparing her magic to the Kingsglaive?" Imperatrix eased off. "You know they are completely different, yes?"

"They _function_ differently but it's still _magic_. None of us had side-effects like Luna's."

"Are you so sure?"

The princess recalled Regis mention her walking a different path. Were those words literal, as in he saw the possibility in a vision?

Did he have visions of Noctis ascending as the True King? Was Insomnia and its people worth sacrificing for this end?

"Course I am! I never saw anybody have blackouts, memory lapses, or freaky episodes of possessed behavior. Our magic drained us of vitality, that's it!"

Imperatrix halted, stepping closer to the peeved man, expression pained and sad. "Did that never concern you? Magic has a price. Each miracle preformed chipped at your lifeforce."

"I mean, we all saw it happening with King Regis. Guess it…never really hit home."

The past weighed on the glaive's present, blinding his future to fighting and revenge. Nothing much mattered to him then.

Flings, parties, training, a lonely apartment, drinking himself silly, sparse calls home…his days were a blurry of meaningless and repetitive.

She gripped his hand.

"What was it all for?" Nyx gushed out, overcome with a moment of bleakness for where he ended up.

Insomnia was gone. All his friends were dead or turned traitor.

He'd be in the grave soon…

"That is for you to figure out, my Hero." The princess stroked the bigger, more calloused hand, far more gentle with the scarred sections.

Reflection and contemplation.

He needed time to himself. After this Nyx would go to Galahd.

A path would be chosen by the man. No kings, oracles, or princesses would sway his future. He would walk to a destination of his own volition.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"For the last time...the answer is no, Tempesta!" Imperatrix tossed the excited girl off. "I have obliged your wants enough already!"

The snow-haired woman was aptly dressed as a princess.

The tiara Nyx gave her rested within white locks intricately styled into a braided bun. The violet overcoat she wore might as well been a battle dress with its flare and the way it clung to her figure.

She was too pretty for a dungeon!

"This is the perfect setup. We should totally go with my plan. Back me up here, people!" The fist fighter jabbed her finger at the first man hopelessly in love with her sovereign. "Dandy?"

He hummed thoughtfully. "I will admit, it sounds like a fun game. There is no more perfect a player than Her Highness."

The princess whirled on the chancellor. "Do not support this ridiculousness. We are not re-enacting some video game plot!"

Why did she humor Tempesta in the first place?!

Oh, because Imperatrix wanted to make the girl happy in light of her recent sad outing! Without fail the blonde cat of shenanigans took advantage of her kindness in the most mortifying way.

Why the hell did the freckle peril want her to play the stereotypical princess locked in a tower waiting for a prince's rescue?!

Why did people do these things to Imperatrix?!

"I fully support this endeavor but our maiden isn't in the tower. The scenario doesn't work." Ardyn sighed dramatically, pacing around the hangar with a put-out air. "I would've loved to play along."

These kind of games were entertaining. He remembered a rather melodramatic experience.

Musa unfortunately got on the bad side of a goddess and was cursed under a sleeping spell. The only way to break the curse was with the purest form of light. He believed it would be a simple fix with his magic but his foolish self was proven wrong.

He and Tellus were stumped for days as the Persian Princess slept like the dead.

She was the mastermind of mystics and without her, the males didn't have a clue how to save her. They had no way of convincing the malicious goddess to lift her malediction either.

In the end, Ardyn accidentally stumbled on the solution.

A confession and a kiss broke the curse. That moment when she gasped for breath and opened her eyes to him, sealed their fates.

True love proved to be the purest form of light magic and the most fatal of downfalls.

The romantic in him liked to internally gloat that every fairy tale he now read or watched with the concept of a kiss of true love breaking curses was inspired by their experience. Tellus loved to have their adventures documented and of course that one would be shared with the scribes.

Too bad historians embellished and changed things from the originals.

 _The Epics of Tellus Aldercapt, the First Emperor_ , masterpieces that most children loved as bed time stories. Cute, but inaccurate.

If he hadn't spent so much time locked up, Ardyn could've collected the authentic tales!

Ugh, too many prisons and too much time in lonely misery.

"This is more of a 'slay the beast' quest." Nebula gave his two Gil, visor analyzing the entrance of Costlemark Tower. "The Lucians supposedly found a powerful creature inside and the high readings support that rumor."

Would they just leave already? He wanted to sleep.

Lunafreya and Ravus's presence were agitating him too much. At least the bigger itch would be gone and his yipping daemon would shut up.

"Kill the beast and retrieve the orichalcum before sunrise."

"Why do we have a time limit?" Tempesta stretched her back, working out the kinks.

Genius took over before the eldest could insult the middle sibling for not listening at the debriefing. "The entrance is guided by runes. It's only open at night. If we're still in there by sunrise, game over cause we're stuck."

She nodded and then clapped her hands, managing to convey her mischievousness through the voice modulator. "Alright! Whoever kills the boss gets to kiss Princess Imperatrix. That's how these things go."

The sword master's jaw dropped, snapping into a denial of this suggestion.

Her protests went unheard by Nyx agreeing, followed by Genius, and Tempesta gloating of her assured victory. Lunafreya looked uncomfortable, moving her lips to come to Imperatrix's defense, but the glaive covered the blonde's mouth.

Covering her face in dismay, the princess internally wept for her circumstances. Nebula was right, she let people walk all over her.

"Fine. A kiss to the mightiest of us." She conceded, getting differing levels of cheer.

No matter, Imperatrix would defeat the daemon, thereby nullifying the ante.

"I burn with envy for whoever gets to claim your lips." Ardyn whispered huskily over the princess's shoulder. "I almost want to go with you."

Like old times.

Together, they saw the world, solved its mysteries, braved its terrors, and basked in its joys. Husband and wife, together in all.

"I have not seen your combat proficiency. I would not have you risk yourself for so little."

The chancellor stepped in front of her, blocking the woman from following the group. He wagged his finger reproachfully. "Don't be so humble, Dearest. I and many others would risk far more for a token of affection from you."

The red head wasn't exaggerating.

A lifetime ago men gambled their lives, fortunes, and kingdoms for a chance to marry the illustrious Princess Janan, second heir to the thrones of Persia and Gralea.

All but one failed to win her hand.

Three guesses for the who won the princess's hand in marriage.

All it took was successfully answering three riddles. Ardyn needed to re-watch his favorite opera.

"Chancellor, if you don't stop flirting with her, Impera will never leave." Nebula droned, pushing the button for the lift.

The princess squeaked out the gunman's name in exasperation, leaping off the slope before it shut.

As the ship closed to her, she blew a farewell kiss to Ardyn. He caught it, swooning with his fedora over his heart.

Nebula's garbled sigh was lengthy.

Ramp locked, Imperatrix joined her companions to enter the barricade. The sealed door of Costlemark glowed and then lowered to reveal a stairway.

"Mission Impossible, start!" Tempesta jumped down the flight of stairs, all boisterous energy.

"Prepare to lose, brat!" Nyx taunted, on her heels just as fast.

"Why is it I am teased for being childlike when they behave so?" Lunafreya shared her thoughts out loud, channeling power through her staff to serve as beacon.

Using a medium drained her less, a simple observation the chancellor told her as they stood in the hangar, like he was commenting on the weather and not matters the man should know nothing of.

He perplexed her to no end!

"I understand. It's a mystery." Genius agreed, four colored birds flying around his head, then nesting on his head and shoulders as he went down.

"Should he have those in here? Where are his weapons?" The oracle wondered if she would have to devote more to defense than she thought.

The teenager lacked any gear on him, dressed light in his sweater and jeans, supply kit slugged over his shoulder. This wasn't some field trip for him to collect neat objects that caught his eye.

He could get hurt!

"The birds are his weapon." At the gaze of confusion, Imperatrix elaborated. "Transformative items are Izzy's hallmark. I have seen them become a crossbow and they can eject flasks of magic. He may have installed new features since they look different from the previous time I saw them."

"That is...amazing..." She couldn't wrap her head around it.

"Humans can achieve phenomenal things."

Calamitous feats were also in mortal's aptitude. They walked a dangerous line from beginning to end.

Such was the Age of Man.


	21. Chapter 21

Since I can't add tags on here like AO3, I'll say it now before anyone points out canon errors. This story was written before the DLC episodes came out. I'm not rewriting or changing my plot to correlate with any them unless it fits to my established lore. Same thing goes for the newly released Ardyn Prologue and then the episode when it releases.

This story is now considered semi-AU…probably totally AU if I'm being honest. It already takes a lot of time making sure things are correct with the information already given by the game, let alone managing all these patch updates, episodes, and anime shorts. Sorry but no, I'm not keeping up with all these changes and modifying my story.

I also posted new character art for the OCs on my deviantart page. Extrasaber on DA and beware spoiler alerts for story ships.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What was up with that disk thingy" Tempesta kicked some rubble out of the way, throwing up her arms in glee upon reaching a more open spaced room.

This place was making her claustrophobic. Not as bad as Lunafreya though, who's skittishness was funny to watch.

Princesses were a hoot.

"Not sure. It gave off magical readings but didn't react when I touched it." Genius did a quick scan of the area. "Daemons incoming!"

Ereshkigals materialized.

"Far more variety than our last venture." Imperatrix side-stepped sharp claws, jamming her shield into another daemon to fling it in the range of Lunafreya's trident.

They'd already killed Gelatins and Galvanades. The sludge monster was messy and smelly while the glowing ball of doom was loud on the ears.

Daemons just had a measure of unpleasantness to them that monsters lacked.

"Stronger as well." She noted when a jab didn't terminate the foe.

"Get ready to find your limit and then push them, Lunar Temple." The fist fighter beat on her opponent, a berserker of punches. "You too, Savage."

"Would it kill you to use my name?!" Nyx whirled fast with his daggers to keep up with the teleporting Ereshkigal.

"Sure. When you earn it!"

Genius left the fighting to the specialists, inspecting past the debris for a way onward. They were two options, crossing over an unstable fallen column, or crossing over an unstable thin ledge.

How annoying the infrastructure became over the centuries from degradation.

"Time ought to stop ravaging things."

Only the princess would be able to balance her way across the column. She was the acrobat expert in the group. His sister's stupidity would result in her falling off. The fall wouldn't kill her…he believed.

Even among the clones their female counterpart held the greatest regenative capability. Was this due to her gender? The daemon infused with her?

Too bad Tempesta despised tests, getting her to come to the lab was impossible. Their father was too busy to be concerned with her so no one could force the issue. Not that Genuis would, his sister would pulverize him and Imperatrix would be enraged.

Tranquil people tended to be the most hazardous when angered.

The ledge it was then.

"That doesn't look like it'll hold." The glaive lifted his foot and a piece fell off the ridge, shaking everyone's resolve a little. "Nope, nuh-uh."

Tempesta snickered. "Maybe you're just fat. You have gotten thicker since I met you in Saxham."

"Sure, that's what you call this." He hauled up his shirt, revealing toned abs achieved by hours in the training the room.

Like the glaive would ever let himself go like that, not even when he was depressed as shit after Galahd's fall. He drank himself into some blackouts yeah, but didn't eat his feelings like Libertus. Self-image was very important to him.

Plus his mom did all the cooking and would have beat the shit out of Nyx for wasting food on sorrow. Eating was for survival and nothing else for Thea.

Such a hard-ass that woman. It would kill him to bring her to tears.

Why was Imperatrix making him go there? Why was the world doing this to him?

"You got something good going on there, I'll give you that." The fist fighter conceded, nodding her head at the free showing of skin. "I can see the appeal for her...are those Neb's clothes?"

The turn-around in compliment threw Nyx and he didn't stop the girl from pulling his shirt up more, which made no sense if she was trying to examine it. "Yeah, he let me have some of his stuff so I didn't mess up my few clothes."

He let the obvious ploy for feeling him up slide.

Nebula gave the glaive a pile of his spare activewear for workouts and non-important outings. Pretty helpful of him and wholly not what Nyx anticipated from the violent psycho.

The gunman had a strange aura of caretaker about him, almost reminded the hunter of Ignis's methodical "mommying" of Noctis. A much harsher version of it.

Although...the bipolar smoker was a helluva lot nicer to Imperatrix than everybody else. The guy wasn't lying when he said he loved his liege.

Maybe Nebula wasn't a psychopath...possibly a sociopath from the nuggets of care he showed.

Ugh...these damn confusing imperials.

"More like he gave those clothes to you to have an excuse for not training." Imperatrix huffed, exasperated with how flip-floppy her senior retainer could be.

His lament over the knock-out at Cauthess didn't last long. Nebula was back to excusing himself from physical conditioning.

"He's sly then but I still got some comfortable sports-wear out of it."

"Can we move on? We're on a time limit." Genius reminded them. "The lightest should go first, which is me."

"Hold on!" Tempesta jabbed him in the chest, finger digging into bony flesh with each prod. "Don't you mean me? How do you even know who's the lightest?"

The other two females made subtle noises of disgruntlement.

"What? It's obvious I'm the slimmest out of us." She addressed both objections, crudely gesturing to their bodies. "Your both tits, hips, and curves. There's no debate."

Nyx laughed and coughed at the same time. Lunafreya covered herself, red overtaking her face. Imperatrix raised her hand in the opposite direction.

"Just go across." The princess demanded before she kicked the girl to the other side.

The middle Besithia stuck herself to the wall, inching over with the youngest following as soon as she was clear.

Before the oracle took her turn, she looked to the two it all started with and asked in complete seriousness. "I am not...a proponent of lust...am I? I am modest in my apparel."

The glaive felt like a Sabertusk in headlights. He snuck a peak at the princess.

"Tempesta is crass, you are fine." Imperatrix assured her. "Be ashamed of nothing for which you were blessed with."

Tenebraen customs were stuffy with those priests and cardinals in the charge. The city would be set back to the Dark Ages for women with their puritanical mindset.

How in the world did past Fleuret matriarchs coexist with them?

"Yeah, kid. Noctis is a lucky man."

The blonde went a deeper shade of scarlet, escaping the embarrassing situation by shuffling across the ledge.

"I count myself one, too."

The white-haired woman squealed as her ass was grabbed. She spun around to punch Nyx a dozen times. "Behave like a gentleman, would you?!"

"Worth every hit." He grunted out once she stopped.

"You just love aggravating me."

"You know it."

"Fool."

They joined the others.

The next obstacle was tying a cord around a rock for them to slide down a hole in the ground, versus jumping down and potentially breaking both legs. The glaive had the honor of first-go this time to catch the others as they came down.

The group did this again for the next broken end of the walkway.

"Shit! It's the Shinigami again!" Nyx fell backwards when the daemon stepped out of the shadows, blocking further advance.

"Tis not the same. He is Yojimbo!" Imperatrix flew forward to defend the man from a strike.

The kimono was different, half dark coloring and half bright coloring. Smaller than its brother but no walk in the park for its lower level.

The princess chuckled, twirling her sword for a better grip once the adversary jumped backwards. "Am I to eventually face all the Daemon Five of Yasu?"

"Here she goes with the monologuing bullshit." Tempesta muttered, making no move to help.

Not that the girl could assist in this narrow hall, at risk of being tossed over the banister to the pits or trampled on by the freakishly tall daemon.

"Face me then! Aramusha was an excellent challenge for swordplay, just like Tonberry." She got another strange reaction from her battle cry.

The creature tipped its straw hat, stance readying. A speedy lunge blew the others back.

Metal clanged dangerously.

"Well, damn. That's what you'll faced in Balouve?" The fist fighter screwed her visor on right, tilting her head mockingly at Nyx, who tried to catch a glimpse during her adjustment.

"Yeah and he was at the lowest level." He scratched his head. "Now I'm a little worried about this place's boss."

Yojimbo was warm up? What the hell would they find?

A cry later and the match was over. Imperatrix stood victorious, hand resting on her ground-lodged sword, observing the kneeling swordsman fade to miasma.

"My thanks for the worthy duel."

The daemon lifted its head, gaze freezing the princess.

Amber.

"Ard-"

The fist fighter latching onto her back killed the name on Imperatrix's lips. "Good job, Shitty Princess! Bonus EXP for you."

"Tempesta, you did not help at all." She side-eyed the feline, mildly displeased.

"Naw! I can tell you're getting indestructible." The middle Besithia squeezed around her liege's neck. "Man am I glad to see you getting back to your old self! I'll take your preppy weirdness any day. Leave the stoic bull to Neb."

She patted the metal covering her friend's head. The princess enjoyed behaving openly and as much as her retainers teased her, Imperatrix wasn't embarrassed to be ridiculous with them.

So what if she was almost thirty? The teenage years weren't the final period for being fun.

They walked around the stairway with no stairs, finding a door with golden murals and no knobs, handles, or buttons.

"There's a confusing door...how do we get through it?" Tempesta searched for a hidden component while Nyx Nyx tried pushing on it. "Yeah right, dude. If I can't push this, you definitively can't."

"What makes you so strong?" He leaned against the door, eyes dragging down the shorter girl's length.

When she hit him it hurt to the point he wanted to ball. This barely five-foot-three chick had the strength of a bulldozer?

How?!

"My genes. Neb's got senses. Izzy's got brains. I got brawn." She showed off with a flex of her arm, craning her neck to the spy the scientist. "Put that head to good use and figure this out, Short-Stack."

"I'm almost as tall as you." Genius corrected, demonstrating his point by standing next to his sister, head at her shoulder. "In a few years I'll be Neb's height. You, however, won't grow another inch."

"Don't be cocky! He's got a totally different workout and diet from you, that's why he's big and tall." Tempesta waved her hand derogatorily at the albino. "You're going to be a boneless knee-knocker all your life from living in a laboratory."

He might the one of the few clones to actually enjoy being in the lab. The rest of them reviled and avoided Verstael's man-cave.

Poor kid needed a life...and some meat on his bones. The nerdy school-boy clothes were hanging off him.

At least his hair was in better shape after Nebula sheared it off. Look at Genius, a proper-looking teenager thanks to his elder brother.

"What are you doing?" The albino questioned, head blaring in pain from the sharp fingers scraping against his scalp.

"Checking for fleas. Not like I care about your scrawny ass, just don't want any infections." Tempesta continued ruffling her brother's short hair.

"I'm not that neglectful in self-care to obtain head lice."

"I dunno about that. You purposely eat poisoned produce from outside the city."

"I do that for research and finding alternative methods for food production. We don't exactly have the widest selection anymore with the land frozen." He clicked his tongue and jerked away from his sister since she wouldn't stop scratching him. "That also has nothing to do with you killing my hair follicles and peeling off my skin."

"This is touching and all but can we return to the door?" Nyx spoke over the next comeback, fist knocking against the slab.

Dysfunctional to a tee these people.

"Right. Lady Lunafreya, if you would?" Genius beckoned her forward.

She approached, placing her trust in the boy and laying a palm on the stone as directed.

"Pulse some magic into it."

The slab lifted, paused as if stuck, then slammed down. Lunafeya stared at her hand.

"Not enough." The scientist adjusted his beamers, reading the numbers. "Try again and I'll calculate the amount required."

She did so, generating more of her energy. This time the slab rose halfway before closing. Her lip twitched down and her nails dug into the painted etchings.

The oracle could feel the judgement and pity.

"Try using double the amount used for the staff light you were doing." The youngest Besithia provided, pointing at the lack of enchantment on her weapon.

"Why is this harder?" She mumbled lowly.

For the third time, magic was called forth, churning hot and bright in a trail that needed to be carefully maintained. The release of this fountain triggered the correct result.

Lunafreya stumbled back as the golden ray door rose.

"Woah, kid." Nyx steadied the blonde by the shoulders. "Dad's gotcha."

"I-I'm fine." She jolted forward, a forced air of collected in her steps. "Stop joking around."

The glaive shook his head, murmuring out. "Stubborn princesses."

Turned out to be a dead end with Galvande daemons waiting for them. Tempesta did find an accessory inside. She now had two pieces of treasure to stuff in her jumpsuit.

Jumping down levels by hooks and wires seemed to be the theme in the ancient tower with collapsed bridges, missing stairways and dead-end doors.

The daemons of the lower levels featured an encore appearance from Bussemands, reminding Imperatrix of their first cooperative mission and she shared that nostalgia with everyone. Nyx snarked about this memory since he didn't get a good impression of the retainers and his mindset mostly hadn't changed. Lunafreya spoke of her first demonstration of power, lowly growling at her luck.

The oracle went tight-lipped at the sight of another mural slab.

"It shouldn't take three attempts this round." Genius stated, staring expectantly at her.

The chancellor was right about the Fleuret. Lunafreya didn't have a good handle on magic, instinctively using it in dire situations. When it came to manipulating magic without adrenaline and threat of death, she fumbled with basic control.

"I can do this in one." Lunafreya stepped up, gathering the requirement, not noticing how she was lighting up like a glow stick.

"No, no, stop!" The albino swore, covering his eyes and clenching at his chest.

"Luna!" Imperatrix grabbed the girl's shoulder when the brightness increased to a blinding degree.

She gasped and the magic flow crumbled.

"That's way too much! Are you trying to blow the door off?!" He panted, vitals all over the place from his agitated daemon.

Now he understood what Nebula grumbled about. Lunafreya's presence could be ignored but when she used her powers like this, it was agony for people bearing a darkness affinity.

She was toxic to them.

"Brute force isn't the only way. Try synchronizing with the door's wavelength." Genius calmed his breathing, sliding the glasses back over his frightening eyes.

No doubt they tinted gold in transformation. A common sign of a night creature merging with the host and in some cases outright taking them over.

The chancellor was the one anomaly that didn't appear to be consumed despite his eyes taking on the amber hue. The youngest Besithia saw full conversions but Ardyn showed no signs of it.

Did the red head's magic keep him human? Was he that powerful?

Chastened by the outburst and her friend's disorientation, Lunafreya took another approach to opening the path. She closed her eyes, focusing on the slab, sensing the threads of magic in it.

Like Genius said, the wall had it's own wavelength, different from the previous one. Thrashing power at the obstacle would solved the problem quicker but that wasn't always the best course.

She almost blinded her companions in her frustrated outpour of light magic. Lunafreya could have hurt them…

Sometimes the longer, trickier path produced better results. Taking her time would harm no one.

The tide of magic presented to the mural split open the door. Ereshkigal waited for them in a circle.

"More small-fry. My knuckles are bored." Tempesta jumped right in, kick to the face stunning a foe.

Lunafreya suffered from a bout of exhaustion, unable to participate in battle. Her predicament didn't exclude the girl from a daemon's assault.

"I got it."

Four colored-birds transformed, latching onto Genius's arm, forming a crossbow. He fired off shots, adding sound effects to the action.

"Elemancy?!" The oracle gasped as fireballs formed midair, scorching the enemy.

Slowed down and wobbling towards them, the Ereshkigal was half done.

"Switch to blade mode, ice-style." The teenager commanded his birds.

They chirped out affirmatives, dislodging from his arm to flap into a new formation. Genius caught the rainbow sword, combating the opponent. Where fire burned the creature, the limbs shattered upon contact with the chilled weapon, double damage inflicted from the opposing elements.

The youngest followed his siblings in terms of competence, he emerged victorious from the mini battle. His beamers settled in Lunafreya's direction.

"You are no ordinary boy." She said with a trickle of ingrained aggression.

The empire stole the innocence of everything.

"Green, heal her." The albino let go of his weapon as it splintered into the birds.

The AI flew over the oracle's head, lathering her in dust. She coughed.

"W-What are y-you-" The blonde sucked in a breath at the soothing caress of a Cure spell, tilting her head to look at the green mechanical wonder.

Imperatrix wasn't joking about the toys.

"Thank you..." She startled at the bird responding in turn.

Genius found it intriguing that Lunafreya showed appreciation with how hostile she just looked. Undoubtedly a case of natural manners.

Why else would she be nice to him? Ravus wasn't.

The oracle was a known to be anti-imperial. The whole of Tenebrae stuck out in the empire, a forced piece of Lucis they put up with for old treaties.

"I saw that, Pip!" Tempesta wrangled her brother to her side, pinching at his cheek. "You trying to emulate Impera? Thought you didn't like close combat?"

His garbled response was hard to make out. She nodded along, arriving at her own conclusion. The fist fighter numerously smacked the teenager on the same cheek.

"Yeah, yeah. She's decent for a Shitty Princess. It's cool for you to copy her, just no katanas."

"What a weird stipulation." He rubbed his bruised face.

"No katanas." She repeated.

Screw Cor Leonis.

"Yeah, okay, whatever, Tempy." Genius gave in, skimming over her and then the princess and glaive. "Green."

The bird already knew what to do. Wings flapped vigorously to expel more of the healing dust over the party, restoring their vitality.

"You nifty Niffs." Nyx joked, stretching out rejuvenated limbs.

Tempesta laughed. "Good one, Sav."

"I would still prefer to never hear that slur." Imperatrix flicked her blade to clean off the black blood, handkerchief getting the leftover residue.

"Why do you keep doing that after every battle? Just wait till we finish." The glaive finally said something about the woman's neat-freak habits, finding it redundant and useless.

"I favor a clean blade."

"She's OCD." The middle Besithia explained, scratching at her back. When she couldn't reach the itch, the girl got her brother to scratch for her, slightly purring in relief. "Always harping about shit being clean."

Sucks for Imperatrix that the people in her company were the opposite, messy and uncaring.

The group went down the first structure of stairs that wasn't destroyed, finding the third mural slab. They nearly died from the combination of Bussemands and another Yojimbo.

Maybe the doors were some form of prison for the daemons. A bunch of dungeon-fanatic travelers shouldn't open them.

Tempesta's bloodlust and Lunafreya's desire for growth were motives to keep opening the sealed rooms regardless of the dangers behind them. The oracle could sense if there was something truly treacherous and would inform the rest.

Curiosity wouldn't kill these cats and they would come out of it bigger and better.

"This is so adorable! How did it end up here?" Imperatrix cooed over the Moogle Charm her retainer located and gifted to her.

The princess thoroughly hugged the middle Besithia for the present. She absolutely adored Moogles and Tonberrys and nobody would turn the woman off them!

"That's not cute. Why do you like it?" Nyx snatched the item, tempted to chuck the creepy thing into the fire crystals Genius was mining from.

These ores were everywhere. Everybody's bags were getting heavy from storing the different flasks and alchemy materials.

Nebula's warning to not be in here all night was starting to make sense. Who knew all this supply work could be so time-consuming?

Shit, all this dungeon stuff took forever. He could understand playing video games about this kind of adventure but living it out wasn't all that hyped.

Nyx needed to quit getting involved in everything.

"What do you mean? How do you not see?!" She retrieved her prize, cradling the charm to her chest.

"All I see is a tiny daemon plush that you're fawning over."

"But it's puffy and the pretty wings and its beady eyes!"

"Nothing you said convinces me." He flicked her on the forehead. "Lady, do you hear yourself?"

"The color scheme, the pudginess and..." Imperatrix took a breath, holding the toy to playfully mimic talking through it. "Kupo!"

"Oh, my god...stop!" Nyx pushed the charm from his face, not buying what she trying to sell. "I don't know you."

"How can you not like it?"

"That's like asking me how I can dislike garbage."

The princess wailed, protectively holding the Moogle. She huffed, twirling away from the glaive. "I can't believe you. How awful."

"She's peculiar, right?" Tempesta inserted herself into the chat, leaning on the hunter to watch a grown woman whisper to a toy.

"Yup." He agreed effortlessly.

"Doesn't detract much from her likability though."

"I guess..."

"The crazy ones are the best, ya know?" She roughly nudged the glaive, almost knocking him over.

"The best at screwing up a guy's sanity." Nyx grumbled, falling into line with the party.

"There's nothing sane about emotional attachment so why worry?"

Nyx faltered at how serious of a discussion he was getting into with the most volatile chick he'd ever met. Not to mention how smoothly they could talk when insults weren't flying.

"You're making that face like Neb does. I'm not stupid, alright?! I got insights!"

"I didn't say anything." The glaive put up his hands to block any incoming hits.

Imperatrix could punch him because she didn't put any gusto into it...she really did give him lovetaps. Tempesta was a no-no. Her fist couldn't touch him.

"You were thinking it." She snorted, lowering her arms. "Dumbass."

Was it just him or was one of the crazies being nicer to Nyx? Did she know about him and the princess? Did Imperatrix go blabbering about his condition?

Something was up.

"Do not fall behind, Moogle-Hater."

The glaive chuckled. Think of her and she appeared.

"But I like seeing you walk. The effect looks better with your pants."

"Nyx." Imperatrix shoved him forward. "Don't be crude!"

"Don't be a distraction."

"I seem to distract you merely by existing."

He had nothing for that, flatly leering at the princess.

"Oh, I like you speechless." The coyness of her whisper over his shoulder was downright underhanded.

"Baby…I'm going to do bad things to you."

"I will do worse to you."

Things were entirely too heated between the glaive and princess.

"Get a room, you two." Tempesta pretended to choke. "I can't breathe with your pheromones in the air."

"They cannot. They are not supposed to." Lunafreya asserted, red-faced at understanding the innuendo.

The fist fighter cackled. "Is somebody jealous?"

Were they about have a triangle in the making? Somebody get her some popcorn.

"No! They are not married. Don't tempt them!"

"Oh, shit. Oh, shit!" She couldn't stop laughing. "What century do you think we're in, Lunar Temple? Damn, I gotta work on you!"

"Adults are gross." Genius said.

"We are. Stay innocent, Darling." Imperatrix hugged the boy, lowly informing him. "Do not allow Tempy to corrupt you."

"For sure."

Winding stairwells filled with Bussemands and Gelatins led to a hallway niche where the scientist found unexpected bits of mythril. The amount was minimal and barely useful but he collected it anyway.

The deep descent into the depths of the tower and across a long bridge made the group realize how big the dungeon was, gearing them into a more somber air now that they entered the second portion. They had to be mindful of their time limit, mucking around on the upper floors cost five hours.

No one wanted to be trapped for an entire day with little food and no sleeping gear.

It was at the bottom of the staircase in a large open square that Genius found the orichalcum in some odd jigsaw walls. The prize glowed blue in the architecture.

The albino found something else. "How interesting. This disk is radiating magic, unlike the one at the entrance."

The gold disk shined red in a circular pattern.

"Izzy, please do not touch it." Imperatrix captured his curious hand, stopping the boy. "We do not know what could happen."

"Okay." He yielded easier than she predicted, moving onto the orichalcum to begin digging.

The youngest Besithia wasn't the only one the princess needed to caution but being the minor, he was her focus.

"What's up with these bricks?" Tempesta crouched to poke at the blue lining.

Lunafreya followed her example since nothing happened. However, unlike the fist fighter, the oracle naturally gave off magical energy. When her delicate fingers came upon the bricks, the floor lowered.

The princess and glaive chased after their screams, flashing lights down the hole. They saw nothing and could no longer hear the girls.

"Ah, shit!" Nyx kicked some stones, helplessly looking at the gauntlet on Imperatrix's arm. "That wire long enough?"

"Not enough." She answered after a rock tossed down never produced a sound of impact.

The princess moved on to the next option, checking her phone for a signal. No bar meant the earpiece was her last shot.

"Tempesta? Do you read me?"

No response.

"Luna? Come in! Can either of you hear me?!"

The silence made her heart drop. Ravus would be livid.

At Nyx beginning to panic, Imperatrix stopped him from blindly dashing for another flooring like the one the girls fell down.

"Don't! Izzy should investigate the space before we do anything." She reasoned, not wanting him to fall into a trap as well.

"Where is the damn kid?" The glaive didn't see the teenager anywhere in the room.

It was dead silent too when the clanging of tools should've been making a song. They searched the room, finding only two remained.

"That boy..." Imperatrix hissed under her breath, knowing exactly what went on behind their backs.

Genius most likely messed with the disk, getting dropped somewhere.

She tuned in on the comm. "Izzy are you there?"

" _Yes."_

The snow-haired woman covered her chest, expelling a relieved sigh. Nyx joined the line.

"What happened?"

" _When I stepped on the disk it teleported me to the entrance of Costlemark. I have to try it again, take some notes, figure out the mechanics!"_ He paused to catch his breath. _"Did the Caelums build this tower? They're known for warp capabilities, so it must've been them!"_

The rest of his words were complicated science terminology that neither princess nor glaive understood.

"Darling, Darling..." Imperatrix interrupted nicely. "Just go back to the ship. You cannot come back here on your own."

" _No way! I haven't found something so fascinating in months. I have to study it!"_

Nyx groaned, pawing at his ear from the loudness level the boy could reach since his vocal chords were still at that squeaky stage. "Damn, he's Tempesta's brother for sure."

His joke went ignored.

"It is too dangerous and we cannot backtrack to get you." The princess found herself in the role of "strict parent" at the moment, arguing for five minutes with the youngest Besithia.

The glaive stayed on the bench for this match, doing his own search of the rigged floors.

" _Then I'll get Neb to escort me."_ Genius hopped off the line making Imperatrix tug at her bangs, jaw clenched absurdly tight.

The insurrection knew no bounds!

"It's up to us to figure this out, Mom-In-Training." Nyx teased as the princess sank next to him.

"Will you stop that?!"

"Why? That's basically what you are now. Nine months later you'll be ready after dealing with all these nutjobs."

"What are you talking about?!" She smacked her hand on the slate, glaring at the grinning man.

"We've been over this, babe, you might be preg-" He fell backwards before finishing the sentence.

"Nyx!" Imperatrix latched onto his sleeve, pulling to keep him from sinking with the floor.

Seeing the possible danger, the hunter made a split decision, yanking his arm out of the princess's grip before she was dragged down with him. The swift look of betrayal and horror cut Nyx to the core.

She cursed him out heavily in Latin, to which he smirked, yelling back. "Don't worry, Princess! A hero always comes back!"

Imperatrix's throat seized up. Alone, she felt the darkness encroaching.

This was one of her nightmares materialized.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me!" Tempesta hollered.

Before her and Lunafreya were a swarm of Flans and one Red Iron Giant. The jigsaw floors moved up and down, left and right, leading them to some temple-styled room.

Together, she and the oracle wiped the floor with the other enemies but now they were in trouble.

"This daemon...is more powerful than anything I've ever sensed." The blonde trembled, unconsciously moving back.

"You better find an escape route while I hold them off." Tempesta cracked her knuckles then adjusted the settings on her gauntlets and boots.

Time for those crystals to go to work for her! Hello wind and lightning attributes and goodbye annoying drecks standing in the way.

She could stomach a loss from one person only and he wasn't here, bell tinkling with every movement of his katana. This Red Giant was going down!

Lunafreya's palms were sweating and she wanted to listen for once but the girl knew that was intolerable. "Are you mad?! You cannot face these odds alone!"

"I don't run from jack-squat." She declared, wind whistling around her as the fighter trudged on. "Just cause things are against me doesn't mean I give up! I'll make the impossible a lapdog with my very own fist!"

A huge boom went off from the girl's launch into battle, whirlwinds from each of her punches and kicks.

"Eat my _Aerora skills_ , bastards!"

The noise level overwhelmed Lunafreya's senses. She could see her comrade valiantly fighting hordes of enemies, not an ounce of despondency in Tempesta's aura.

This fight couldn't be a solo. To survive a duet was a necessity, problem being...the lead singer lost her voice, lost her confidence.

Fear.

Imperatrix called it, Lunafreya learned the uncomfortable sensation of losing all reason and logic when presented with a situation where life hung in the balance.

Insomnia, the city she dreamed of visiting for so long...

Her reckless confidence towards every problem that popped up in the besieged kingdom slipped from the young Fleuret trickle by trickle after setting out into the real world. Living so long in safety from the highs of Fenestala Manor did no favors for her and the gods showed their overconfident messenger how fragile she was.

The power she took pride in hadn't measured up in the trial. The previous oracle bestowed true power onto her to change the tide.

Lunafreya could die like anyone else...

"Quit standing there looking dumb!"

The rebuke slapped the blonde into reality, eyes widening at the proximity of a Flan. The blue blob melted into two pieces before its attack could hit.

Staring at the sludge on her spear, the Fleuret saw how steady her hand was. "I cannot die here."

Nor could her friend.

"Temple, I told you to run!" Tempesta screamed, sending a burst of air at a group of Flan then slamming her fist down to create a shockwave of lightning to delay the approach of the Red Giant.

"I am not abandoning you to die."

At the stubborn announcement, the middle Besithia saw Imperatrix for a second. She huffed through her mask.

Great. Another bleeding-heart princess.

"You better not croak then. Ravus and Impera will never let me hear the end of it!" Tempesta slapped her partner on the back. "Are you ready, boots? Start walkin!"

"P-Pardon?"

"It's a song...oh, just come on!"

With two girls working in tandem, the flans were demolished, leaving the boss for them to walk all over.

"I'm so winning our game." The fist fighter puffed out her chest, flicking off the sludge on her uniform. "Maybe I'll make the Shitty Princes kiss a frog instead... Nah! Shouldn't miss out."

"T-Tem…p-pesta." Lunafreya heaved for air, leaning on her staff. "We can win…if I sing."

It would take the last of her magic and there was a chance of the spell overtaking her...

There were no other options. Better she go comatose for a few days than eternal sleep into the arms of Etro.

"There's no guarantee I can keep the Giant distracted. You'll be a sitting duck."

"Give it your best and I will do the rest."

"Fine, Temple. Lets see a limit break."

The oracle took her place at the outskirts of the daemon's range, gathering what little energy she possessed.

Wasting so much on the doors proved to be her downfall. Lunafreya swore that after this she would stop taking her gifts for granted. The girl would practice and learn, no more relying on matters to work themselves out.

The hubris of youthful confidence would no longer be her guiding star.

Lunafreya sang a simple song to start, one that would weaken the Red Giant, decreeing the name at the end. " _Barfire_."

Light filled the ominous temple, orbs flying towards the lamps, settling there to illuminate and pulsate magic around the daemon.

Tempesta hooted at the diminishing heat of the enemy. The metal of the gauntlets didn't burn anymore and she could repeatedly hammer into the monster's thick skin, miniature craters forming in each spot. As strong as she was, the hits were just a nuisance.

This lug was testing her patience!

The thing was resistant to lightning and wind increased the flames of the daemon's sword. A win wouldn't be earned with a normal skillset of a human.

The fist fighter spared a glance for the singing oracle. "Am I gonna have to go _dark_ for this guy?"

Lunafreya didn't know what the Besithia were because of her obliviousness but after the muck up with Ravus, recently she began flinching around certain people.

At least those were Nebula's conjectures.

Seeing Tempesta go baddie would definitively tip her off. How would the goodie-two-shoe react to her kind?

Girl already scorned imperials. Would she go around trying to purge the daemonic imperials in the company?

Blow a secret or die. Pretty easy choice.

"Got damn it, that hurt!" A choice made extra easy by the Red Giant bashing her into a column.

The cut into her stomach should've spewed blood but it was immediately cauterized by the flame-licked sword.

How many assholes would do major damage to her internal organs?! First Cor and now this.

"You piece of shit! This is gonna scar." Tempesta laid immobile, weakly reaching for the injury. "Screw you."

The marshal was her worst enemy and he never left a scar on her body. She wished he did…wished for the changed body…

What would their kit have been like?

"Ugh, I'm getting delirious...I can hear the bells..."

Without a feisty girl to fight, the Red Giant turned on the one damaging it with light magic.

Blind to the danger, Lunafreya sang on, first spell weaving into something greater with the next verse of chorus. The orbs grew, pulsating with more magic.

The fist fighter blinked rapidly, struggling to her feet, tilting between conscious and unconscious.

Not the damsel princess she initially swore to protect...but one that needed her help.

"Don't you dare, Flame Moron!"

An axe-like sword was thrown off course from cleaving an oracle in half by a powerful, energized arrow knocking it from the owner's hand.

"The Great Hero descends!" Nyx broadcasted himself, taking a defensive position in front of Lunafreya.

"You?! How?!" Tempesta threw her hands up. "Whatever! Is Shitty Princess with you?"

"Nope, just one handsome guy." He switched the bow into twin mode. "And that was my ace so we got to come up with something new."

"I don't know whether to be happy or mad."

They were all going to die down here.

Imperatrix would live though. She'd get Tempesta's revenge on Cor in her stead.

The fist fighter and glaive pressed on the Red Giant, holding out hope for whatever song magic was in the works. Nyx couldn't feel the oppressive light increasing like Tempesta could and it was making her sloppy.

What was supposed to be a trump card for the daemon was also a kill strike for their masked companion. She couldn't keep up, getting drawn in from a Gravity pull and then tossed aside.

The world went dark as her head crashed into stone.

" _Fight on."_

Tempesta knew that purring voice of destruction. For so long it was the only voice she heard outside of Verstael's.

" _Fight or die."_

The daemon sounded exactly like her...

Maybe it was her? They entered this world together.

Were they one?

" _We are one."_

"Fenrir's fur! What's up with you?!" Nyx would forever deny it, shrieking from Tempesta rising off the ground into a crouch with eerie black energy coming off her.

The gauntlets shattered, revealing the murky mist transforming human arms into something more inhuman. Claws for nails, black skin with violet markings...

"What in hellfire?!"

If he thought Tempesta's punches were strong before, they were insane now, throwing back the massive enemy and swallowing its flames with mist.

"I-I literally...don't understand." Nyx stayed on the sidelines, flabbergasted.

Lunafeya's song reached the pinnacle. " _Luminohelix_!"

The orbs converged, morphing into a blade in the form of a spinning helix. Bright and warm, it surged forward.

The Red Giant blocked the blast with its weapon but light prevailed, magical sword impaling the beast. Tempesta finished the daemon, punching straight through its heart.

Once the foe dissolved into nothing, the middle Besithia sank to her knees, rationality returning.

" _Get stronger."_

Her arms gradually returned to normal. The nefarious feline receded to the inner quiet, weak from the exposure to its reverse element.

"I killed it..." She giggled then full out guffawed.

A Red Iron Gian. Cor was on her horizon. He could be reached!

One day she'd defeat him.

"It's dead!"

"You're way too cheerful." Nyx slowly advanced on the girl, eyes glued to pale arms. He didn't image them looking like an animal's limb.

They were cat arms!

"Dang it. Izzy's going to bitch me out again for the equipment. I just got these repaired." Tempesta leaned back, picking at her bloody clothes. "My uniform's ruined too."

The sleeves were gone and the stomach area was shredded. A lot of skin was on display and normally she didn't give a fly about nudity but there was a big issue about this instance.

"I thought you were injured?" The glaive leaned closer, eyebrows furrowing at the thick pink line on the girl's stomach.

The wound shouldn't look like a healed scar, not from all the blood on her outfit.

"This isn't normal. What are yo-"

"You got bigger things to worry about, pal." She cut him off, motioning to the zombie-like Lunafeya wobbling near them.

"Nyx..."

The oracle toppled forward.

He caught her, sighing as his hand patted blonde hair. "Why did I get myself into this?"

Was Nyx the only regular human around? What was going on in the world?!

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"This is a terrible idea." Nebula reiterated, among the five surrounding the giant golden globe with blue patterns.

"Whatever is beneath our feet is stronger than previous bestiary information. I must know what could cause these readings." Genius held no fear, taking pictures of the objects in the room and writing memos of his observations.

This place was a science goldmine! He could spend days doing research here.

The energy mechanics of the platforms, the seals, the warp panels. So much to learn and play with!

"I didn't think Izzy could get this lively over architecture." Ardyn chuckled at the boy sprouting off numerous topics to him at breakneck speed, skittering someplace else when a new idea entered his head, then running back to repeat the process.

The boy gave him too much credit. The chancellor didn't have as profound an understanding of old Solheim technology as he thought.

All the red head did was retrieve some papers and hand them over to the empire. Studying gave Ardyn insight but not keen understanding.

"This no task for a boisterous child. He will get in the way." Ravus sneered at the boy and his fluttering birds, swiping at one that flew too close.

The high commander specifically told them not to bother him and what do they do? Bother him. He specifically told Imperatrix to guard his sister and what did she do? Let her get lost and injured.

Failures! All of them!

Lunafreya wasn't critically wounded. Tempesta was in worse in shape of the two when they retreated to the Setzer. His sister was unconscious from magic depletion while the second retainer slept off a gutted stomach.

He was both impressed and horrified that they faced down a daemon that even Noctis couldn't defeat.

How powerful the Fleuret song magic was. A shame that he couldn't inherit the family birthright. To ascend as Nox's successor would have been an honor.

"We'll need him for support if we're doing this." Nebula surmised, gripping the excited scientist by the head. "Got it?"

The albino nodded, back to a placid temperment. "I will be the primary healer with Lady Lunafreya out."

Two members of the original party were swapped out for Ravus and Nebula after everybody convened in the square.

Imperatrix smacked Nyx so many times when they met up, continuing the assault at his insistence to venture on rather than withdraw.

No one expected to see the chancellor at the end of the puzzle maze, leaning on the wall in infinite boredom. He got separated from Genius's group and they assumed he returned to the ship.

Surprise, surprise.

The man's appearance reinforced the scientist's theory. Ardyn was a magic user since only they could move the slab floors.

What blew the middle Besithia's mind was the princess's ability to activate them as well!

Her report of Nyx's fall led him to test if anybody could move the blue-tile floors. Trials proved only Imperatrix and Ravus could.

The princess was the one to guide the new lineup through the lower floors. So many questions to be answered!

Illumination at its finest!

Maybe leaving his laboratory wasn't such a hindrance. Best outside expedition ever!

"I know you do not plan to join us." Imperatrix moved closer to the red head, fingers lightly touching the tips of his.

He tilted his head, smirk answering for itself.

"This is not a game, you clearly heard of the danger. Don't be foolish!"

"The Jabberwock is indeed a ferocious foe." Ardyn shared, twining their fingers into a loose hold that she could run from if the fancy fit the princess. "I'm impressed you all reached this place."

He came inside after sensing Imperatrix near the seal. She managed to conquer the other daemons guarding the path.

His little lover was growing in prowess and as he hoped so was her magic. However, the Jabberwock might kill her.

"How do you know what dwells beneath? Have you been here?"

Ardyn hummed. "A very long time ago to satiate my curiosity."

The monster failed to kill him.

"What is the creature?" Imperatrix wouldn't hold on to her shock, better to go with the flow.

"A large lizard...last I saw."

The way the beast felt to his sense was different now. It might have evolved while trapped underground.

"In fact...I wonder how it shall affect you."

Her stomach turned at the discord of maliciousness and sincerity clashing on the chancellor's face. "What do you mean?"

"Be careful...my Dearest."

The adventure of being lost in amber was broken by males calling for Imperatrix to join them. She swallowed down the desire to hold on longer to Ardyn's hand and speak more, fingers slipping from his as the princess left.

Ravus activated the globe by placing a hand on it, his magic acting as the key. The platform lowered.

If the Jabberwock prevailed, the chancellor would intervene.

Watching Imperatrix fight a losing battle against the Red Iron Giant was excruciating. Sitting by her bedside and knowing that he could've helped and didn't was unbearable. He basically hurt his lover.

Looking back, leaving her in Insomnia was possible because Ardyn wasn't by the woman's side, wasn't even in the city for longer than needed, stealing the Crystal and departing. The distance in their relationship made maneuvering her unproblematic.

Things were changing again.

His shriveled heart bled for Imperatrix, there was no escaping that. Hurting her was hurting himself.

"I can't lose her..." Ardyn admitted to the emptiness of the chamber, head bumping into a column and heart thumping so painfully in his chest that he slid to the floor clenching at the ache.

His eyes stung with black liquid.

"I tried not to. I can't help falling in love again…"

The daemons were in an uproar.

The swiftness of the platform and neon color of the inner machinery made most the party uncomfortable. Unaffected, Genius recorded the scenery with his phone. Nyx wanted to throw up from the ride, looking down made it worse.

"Stop looking." Nebula droned, pulling the glaive in since abrupt movement might tip the platform.

"I'm trying..." He covered his mouth, counting to take his mind off vomiting.

Ravus glared at Nyx. "And stop that heaving."

His actions were making the high commander nauseous, mental fortitude helping him keep a straight face.

"Get off my case both of you!" The dais rocked a little from the glaive's eruption of irritation.

"Quit it all of you!" Imperatrix instructed, arm wrapping around Genius, who almost fell off from not paying attention to his feet.

The alpha males went silent, arms crossing and refusing to look upon anyone.

Nebula shrugged his shoulders. _"This nonsense is your fault, Imp."_

 _"How? I am not the preparator of every misfortune."_ She replied into the communicator.

 _"Beauty is a cruel mistress."_

 _"Really, Neb? I am more than that."_

 _"You are and you string along so much trouble for it."_

The princess gave up, scowling at nothing.

It was in a darkly-lit chamber the ride concluded. The platform clicked into place, setting off other lights in the room.

"Is that...what I think it is?" Nyx croaked out, waving his hand at the high commander. "Hey, hey, make this thing go back up."

Genius's jaw dropped and before he could breathe a word, Nebula's hand veiled his mouth.

"A dragon?!" Imperatrix whispered, both awed and terrified.

The giant creature rested, breathy snores loud like the running machines in the background.

"I never imagined I would get to see one in my lifetime..." She dropped to her knees, head dipped down and fists clasped together in prayer. "Oh, great ancestors of the Imperial Aldercapt House, I am honored by this blessing."

The princess payed tribute to the old gods of Gralea and Persia, bowing at the end of each. A mere mortal like her got to witness a mythical beast thought to be extinct!

How glorious!

What other wonders still existed on Eos? Would she uncover them?

Even one as traveled and learned as the imperial princess could still be mystified by discovery. Imperatrix was humbled.

Oh, how she couldn't wait to tell her father and sisters! Wait…she must get a picture otherwise they'd never believe her.

"Impera, come on. What are you doing?!" Nyx hissed at her, unable to get the woman out of her delirium of wonderment.

"High Commander we ought to leave." Nebula's gun was trained on the Jabberwock.

The snores were still coming and he'd like it to stay that way.

"Do you not see me trying?" He smacked at the unresponsive globe.

For whatever reason the machine wouldn't accept his magic.

A break in the snore pattern got the humans to freeze. Nyx pulled Imperatrix to her feet, squeezing her to his body. Slowly, carefully, the group tip-toed closer to the platform.

Unfortunately, sound wasn't the issue.

The Jabberwock's nose twitched, inhaling new scents unfamiliar to it. Dreams could wait, dinner presented itself.

The dragon woke, belting out a deafening wail and unfurling its wings.

"It is majestic! Please do not make me do this..." The princess whined, dismayed that she signed up for killing an endangered species.

Worse...this creature was the representation of her house! The family crest was literally twin dragons.

The shame and misfortune she would bring on the Aldercapts!

"The lizard must have developed wings for hunting, else it would die in this room." Genius deduced from the information provided by the chancellor. "The ability to adapt is such an exciting subject."

"This isn't the time for a lecture. Get back!" Nebula shoved the boy to the rear, riffle primed to maximum output. "You know what to do, Izzy."

"Right, right, support. Green, enhancements!" The teenager ordered to his crossbow.

The bird dislodged, flying around to expel a dust on the group.

"You guys get Defense Up!" He snapped his finger for the next and Green obeyed. "And Attack Up!"

Those without a helmet coughed a bit but felt the supplements shooting through them.

"If you all get wounded, we'll heal you but Green can't do more than the effects of a mega. It's limited so don't go crazy."

"This is not reassuring. But that's okay, I've worked with worse." Nyx settled in the middle of their formation, prepared for close combat or ranged support.

The princess and high commander were on the front, first line of hard-hitters. They would engage the Jabberwock.

"What is the matter? No rally cries or taunts? You barely even look willing to fight." Ravus noted how miserable his fellow commander looked, sword hanging from her hand and shield covering her front, like she wanted to hide behind it. "Do you wish to run?"

Cowardice wasn't her style, even though she actually appeared the part of flighty princess in her getup.

He sometimes forgot Imperatrix was a woman and had moments of vulnerability. The episode with the Hundlegs being one.

"My friend..." She groaned, tightening her grip on the sword. "This battle brings no joy or prestige to me. Murdering this creature is sure to bring bad karma on my family."

Ardyn warned her and she didn't listen. Hearing treachery in his words was a habit the princess must overcome.

The trust in their relationship had to be repaired.

"Do not be superstitious. Focus on the battle." Ravus said, not knowing how else to assuage her.

"As you say… My blade will swing with yours."

If their roles were reversed, a Unicorn their enemy, Imperatrix would know what to say to lessen his burden of butchering the Fleuret's sacred animal. Alas, this wasn't the case. She would have to settle for his blade at her side.

Actions trumped words. That was how he operated.

The Jabberwock swung its tail at the oncoming humans, wind knocking the flying birds out of the air. The sword wielders slid on the floor, evading the first attack. They went for the legs, dancing around the heavy stomps cracking the metal floor.

The support group fired lasers and arrows at the wings, concentrated efforts causing burn spots. While the tail-whip failed on the nimble sword-swingers, it worked on the stationary bowman and gunman, knocking one off their feet and interrupting the other's shot.

Nebula tossed a grenade at the returning tail, shooting it for immediate effect. The dragon howled, curling its appendage close to home.

"Get up. You just got grazed." He was about to yank the glaive up but stopped. "Izzy!"

"Coming, coming." The scientist slid next to Nyx, beamers sending him information. "Your vitals are all over. What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing..." Nyx clenched at his head.

Where the princess and high commander were fighting, he saw them disappear, replaced with a tall figure in armor wielding a greatsword. The mountain of a man was no match for the Jabberwock.

The scene returned to the present.

His scars stopped burning and the migraine became a dull throb.

"I'm going to throw up."

"I'm not wasting a curative for motion sickness. He's fine." Genius diagnosed, holding up his arm for the birds to join. "Crossbow mode."

"I told Impera we should have sent you on your way." Nebula uttered, raising his rifle for a combo with his brother. "You should've stayed in Galahd, Ulric."

" _Blizzara_ incoming!" The albino tugged on the trigger for the flask to eject.

The eldest Besithia shot the glass right as it was above the beast, icicles raining on it instead of freezing their allies. "Your aim is off. Work on it."

"Impossible. My AIs calculate for a perfect shot."

"Computers make mistakes just like humans. The shot came up short."

"Liar!"

"Then why did the area of effect only include the back portion of the dragon and not the entirety?"

Genius clicked his tongue. "I'll recalibrate their systems."

"The problem is _you_. I'm saying you need to practice." Nebula fired at the feet, making the Jabberwock stand up in shock. Imperatrix slashed the beast where it was least scaled.

The attack hurt her more than it did the opponent. He wanted to hit the princess over the head but his vow prevented the gunman from hurting her.

Steel up already.

"Being told to practice from my lazy, older self is irony of the _highest level_."

Genius had no vow in his bank, thus Nebula felt nothing when popping him in the head. "When you reach my status, you can afford to be lazy. Until then, shut up and listen!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Friendly fire isn't allowed!"

"The battlefield doesn't have rules. Neither does life."

The battle dragged on in the Jabberwock's favor. The story of its might wasn't exaggerated.

Scales protected it from regular attacks, forcing the party to rely on elemental assailments which drained the magitek equipment. Often one the members would fire off a strong attack that weakened the dragon and then were put on defensive while the weapon recharged.

The uncoordinated method of one-at-a-time wasn't cutting it.

"We need a linked strike!" Imperatrix pronounced, eyeing the members who could execute the maneuver. "Ravus and Izzy, hit it with lightning!"

"Violet to the front." Genius ran closer, swinging his arm for the birds to reconfigure. With the right one forming the bow, he tugged. " _Thundara_ coming up!"

The high commander pulled back his metal arm, gathering the element and thrusting his hand forward to shoot lightning. " _Thundaga._ "

The enemy couldn't take the supreme electric bombardment, slumping into a vulnerable state.

"I am loathe to do this...but I must." The princess loaded a new gem into the slot on her blade, hitting the button to power the attribute function.

Lightning blade in hand, she stabbed the Jabberwock, dragging the blade across its length. Blood seeped out onto her dress. The scream made her want to sob.

"I'm sorry, forgive me." She pleaded, shaking her head to be rid of the tears.

The dragon leaped up, jaw opening wide to exhale out a cloud of grey.

Imperatrix got hit first, body seizing up. Her warning didn't reach Ravus and he too fell to the paralyzation.

"Why are you standing there, Impera?! I know you think it's cool but get a grip!" Nyx shouted, running to her as the foe regained its senses.

"They're petrified! Get them away so I can cure them!" Genius dug through his kit for the right items, yelling out orders for the birds to distract the Jabberwock.

Status ailments were so rare in monsters that the scientist didn't stock Green with those components. He had to administer the solution by hand.

The glaive struggled to haul two bodies with flasks dropping by the second, flipping the battlefield through storms, fires and blizzards.

Nebula provided cover and moved to assist in distraction, handguns springing into his hands from the brace under his sleeves. "I hate close-quarters, that's Tempy's gig."

The visor alerted him of the bomb drops so the gunman used them to dart around, stealthily avoiding the dragon in the confusion.

"But at least I get to use real bullets for this. Nothing like a round in the chamber to thrill me."

Genius coated the bullets in elemental ores, making them deadlier. Between the birds and him, the Jabberwock flailed around in agony at the constant blitz.

"She's okay, right?" Nyx asked, patting Imperatrix's cheek to get her to concentrate.

"Yeah, give it a minute." The scientist replied, busy with conducting Ravus's dosage.

At the princess blinking and somewhat registering him, the glaive grinned. "You've got some weird fetishes, Princess."

"It is not a fetish..." The woman groaned, leaning into the hand on her cheek. "Dragons are our sigil. How can I kill it without killing a part of myself?"

For a moment he didn't understand, then realization came. If ever Nyx went hunting and found a wolf that wasn't hostile, he didn't dare kill it, lest the man incur the wrath of Fenris.

For Imperatrix, this creature was mythos associated with her family. Some old tales bragged that the Aldercapt were descended from dragons and gods.

Superstitions were hard to let go. Of course, that was why she was bugging out.

"I'll kill it for you."

She laughed.

"I'm serious. I already planned to anyway. How else am I supposed to win the game?"

More importantly, there would be no cosmic consequences for her.

"Nyx!" Imperatrix sprung up at him seizing on the opportunity.

The glaive zipped by Nebula, red energy dagger cutting off the tip of the dragon's tail. "What do you know, I got good luck now."

"That's rabbits." The gunman rectified. "And you're supposed to get the feet."

"Same thing."

"No. It's not."

The Jabberwock had enough. Its belly expanded, bulge rising up the throat to burst out. A huge cloud of gray filled the area.

Nebula saw the move coming and blasted himself out of range with his gun. He was safe.

Nyx must have garnered some luck despite the inaccuracy of his boast. He suffered no status ailment, rolling out of the fog.

"Are you crazy?! You saw what happened to Impera!" The glaive yelled in vain as the gunman dove right into the smoke.

Beams of light went off, penetrating through the thick haze. The dragon cried out, finally taking to the skies for the remainder of the battle. Beating strong and repeatedly, the strokes of its wings dispelled the cloud of petrification.

"How are you not paralyzed?"

"My visor." Nebula responded so simply that Nyx felt stupid.

Breathing in the gas was the most apparent way to get pinched. The attack wasn't a guaranteed affliction from his escape of the ailment.

"What you should be thinking about is how to get that thing out of the air."

"We hit it together, might be enough to take out its flight mode."

The gunman nodded.

In the sky the Jabberwock was supreme, cocky of its superiority of those below. It didn't pay heed to the predator above.

Ardyn held up his hand. A red sword materialized, singing the tune of shattered glass and ancient power.

"I try and try but you simply have me wrapped around your finger, Musa. _My love is vengeance_."

A flick of his wrist and the weapon flew.

"The only consolation here is this dragon does not breathe fire." With his rapier, Ravus clipped a talon that came to close to his face.

"Well it breathes smoke." Imperatrix retorted, growing aggravated with their airborne foe.

Combined, an arrow and laser beam tore a hole into a wing, reducing the Jabberwock's flight. They could reach the enemy occasionally when it attacked.

At this rate the battle would never end.

"Ugh, it's getting blood everywhere!" The high commander complained, shaking out the wetness in his hair. "Raining blood, how repulsive."

He was distracted, not noticing the trick of light that Imperatrix did. Her eyes enlarged as a crimson streak split open the flesh of the other, uninjured wing, completely burning away the appendage.

The Jabberwock fell.

A shockwave rocked the room but everything went mute for the white haired woman. She couldn't look away from the pulsating sword stabbed into the ground.

"Ardyn..."

He showed her that item but right now it gave a completely different impression. She could feel it radiating more energy than any magitek equipment, more than even a core.

It felt so familiar.

Before Imperatrix knew it, her hand wrapped around the pommel.

"I...know you..." With no prior knowledge and no understanding where the words came from, she proclaimed. " _The Sword of the King_!"

The blade which wouldn't budge a second ago, slid out like it was meant to be drawn from stone.

Up above, Ardyn placed a hand over his chest, acknowledging the tug he experienced from the Armiger.

"Oh...I haven't felt this in eons..." Leaning forward on the ledge, he dreamily gazed on as his treasured Divine Arm recognized a previous contract, accepting a new wielder. "You _are there_ , aren't you?! _My Musa_ , _My Janan_?"

Two millennium ago the chancellor shared the contents of his Armiger with the Alder siblings as they traveled alongside him. Maybe there was still a chance for her remember him.

"You are my wife! How else could Excalibur know you?"

But did he want her to remember him?

He wasn't the sage anymore, no longer the man that stole her heart and gave his in return. All his sins, all his failures would be laid bare.

"What is this feeling?" Imperatrix blinked, eyes watering from how intense everything appeared.

So much...there was so much energy poking at her senses.

The battle with the dragon moved in slow motion. Ravus charged the creature, believing it docile but its jaws would come for him.

The danger was known to her before it would happen. Did time stop? Was she moving too fast for it to flow?

Nothing made sense...

Yet her body moved in motions she'd drilled into herself like breathing over the long years as a fighter.

Imperatrix raised the sword, a name on the tip of her tongue. "Ex...calibur?"

Time moved in standard formation. The princess didn't follow this theme.

In two steps she was in the thick of the fight, cutting off the Jabberwock's jaw, cutting through its remaining wing and cutting through its neck. Three attacks proceeded at once, magic exuding from the strikes in an eruption of crimson and violet.

The beast convulsed with the last remnants of life.

Ravus lost his momentum from swinging at nothing, almost tripping over his feet. Baffled at the defeated monster, he stepped closer, gasping at the wetness in his shoes and the noise of splashing.

"This is beyond repugnant!" He gagged at the smell of charred flesh he was too familiar with.

His pants were stained red from stepping in a puddle of blood.

By the gods what happened?!

One moment he was facing down the Jabberwock and the next it collapsed into this mess. Why was it burning?

"Those flames look like the Lucii's..." The high commander shivered at the crimson petals still eating at the dragon's flesh.

Blue flames ate his arm.

He clenched the prosthetic, pain emerging in the stump area where the metal connected. The sight of a bloody princess took his mind off the phantom pain. "Imperatrix?"

She walked on, seeing nothing. Her body tingled.

Something...something was there, beginning to branch out like an ink spill on parchment.

"What is wrong with me?"

"Impera!"

The princess grabbed onto the hands shaking her, one hand colder from touching metal. "Ravus?"

"Are you hurt?"

She followed his eyesight to her dress, a ruined shade of burgundy. "I am...fine. The blood is not mine."

"You look awful. How foolish of you to dress up for this." He sniffed snobbishly now that his worries were for nothing. "Silly woman!"

For once Imperatrix didn't fret over her appearance. She fixated on her empty hand.

The sword was gone. Was it ever there?

It couldn't have been an illusion. She felt the power, felt herself in three places, slaying the beast three times over.

The Sword of the King. She pulled it from the stone and fought. She knew its true name.

Why? How?

Ardyn! He would know.

He had to know, it was his sword. Once the man offered the item to her should she need it and the sword arrived at her hour of trouble.

Why was this man the center of all mysteries?! Imperatrix couldn't deal with his secrets anymore. All or nothing, he must give her the truth.

Answers were the key.


	22. Chapter 22

"I always wondered what happened to the Lost One. I could've never predicated he'd wind up with the prince." Genius wiped a little too hard on his glasses, creating a smudge on the orange plane.

The bedroom felt small and crowded.

Four occupants were in varying states of low moods from the princess's revelation of a Besithia clone she encountered at Aracheole Stronghold.

Imperatrix was laid out on the bottom bunk-bed, Tempesta sprawled over her like a spoiled cat, milking the "sick patient" routine for cuddles and caresses. The exposure to excessive quantities of light magic weakened the fist fighter, leaving her bedridden for the past two days.

Equanimity for two glorious days!

From his vantage point at the top bunk, Nebula overlooked this scene with relish. A sick sister was a blessing. She wasn't eating constantly and periodically causing accidents.

Too bad this wouldn't last long with her rapid healing rate.

"Does the guy have a name?" Tempesta croaked out, feeling a stab of irrational anger towards this clone.

"Prompto." Nebula revealed, vaguely interested in what a Besithia nurtured outside of the lab would be like.

From across the world there could be an opposite to the average of emotionless, child soldiers.

Eyes looked to the gunman.

"Argentum." Imperatrix finished, sitting up on the bed but continuing to pet the seething girl next to her. "How do you know his name?"

"Aranea told me." He popped a new lollipop into his mouth, repeating his girlfriend's name over and over in his head to smother out the allure of a cigarette.

Damn...it was hard to quit smoking. She just had to demand the impossible.

Freaking troublesome women.

"Why is she in Lucis?"

"A temporary demotion."

The commodore refused to fire on the crown city during the invasion, earning her a court martial. Luckily, the admiral for the air force wasn't a complete sadist like General Glauca of the landforce when it came to insubordination.

She got off with reduced pay, a post in Lucis, and gutter missions that no one wanted. Those consequences would enrage a high-born military member but Aranea scoffed them off, preferring this little vacation to the other things she'd put up with.

Regardless of her impassive acceptance, lots of people knew that the dragon had been gunning for the admiral position for years. A demotion on her file would set that career path back to the beginning. Commodore would be her peak for years and a year ago, this fact would have pissed her off.

Things with his girlfriend were a little up in the air with changes in empire policies.

These issues weren't for anybody but him to know.

"Aranea received a request to help at a base and fought off the Lucian Prince's retinue. Imagine her shock at seeing a younger me." Nebula wouldn't go into the nasty tirade she went on about the empire's disgusting tactics.

Most their phone calls of late consisted of him staying hushed through denunciations of the government he served. She might not mean anything more than to complain but from all this he was getting the impression that lines would be drawn and sides would have to be chosen.

That scenario wouldn't end well.

"Much worse than mine." Imperatrix laid back down, mind caught on Prompto's free-range of expressions. "From how he acted around me, she must not have said anything to him."

"I doubt she would have." The gunman chewed on the lollipop, cracking the gross candy. "Knowing her, she might have flirted with him."

"Is that jealousy? Or am I tripping?" Tempesta's cackles sounded throaty and terrible, making her cringe and refrain from more insults.

"What's there to be jealous about? They look the same." Genius droned.

She couldn't help herself and forged through the horrendous sound of her voice. "Good point. Maybe, Miss Spider would like a younger version. Probably getting tired of the wear and tear of old Neb."

"Shut up." The gunman spoke no higher than a whisper but the low rumble still cut a deadly edge.

"Heh, struck a nerve?"

"I said _shut up_." The lollipop was broken pieces to chew at this point.

The taste and his withdrawal was building up Nebula's urge to hurt someone, namely the irritating, female version of himself. Emulating Imperatrix's method of "good older sibling" just didn't work for him. Tempesta was a piece of shit and she knew it.

"Stop it, you all. There is no reason to fight." The princess tugged on blonde spikes. "Nebula made you a delicious soup. This is no way to repay his care."

The fist fighter hissed petulantly, backing off her stoic brother.

"I shouldn't have wasted the supplies. We're getting low." He turned onto his side, rolling the stick around in his mouth.

Should Nebula have engaged in a debate with Aranea instead of submissively listening? But what could he say?

The freckle-faced blonde was essentially one of the tactical methods she despised. She was a mortal and he was a daemon…plus a clone. Two abominations mixed in one.

What was the point of their relationship?

Why torture himself in trying to understand love? Why try to understand the previous "Nebula", a boy so far in character from him?

Utter Madness.

Sometimes he wished for the empty regularity of the MTs or to go back to being a shadow. His life was so simple as a clone drone.

The princess did this...gave him the paradox of choice. Blessing or curse?

"What's to be done about 'Prompto'? Father will want to know." Genius set his glasses in the case, done with cleaning, configurations and ready to relax on his bed.

Without the equipment from the manor, major work couldn't be done onboard the ship and he was bored now after completing the alchemy components. All the data he collected also needed to be tested in the lab, where he could control the environment for optimal results.

His field trip was coming to an end.

"We should..." Tempesta wanted to be petty, turn Cor's favorite abduction in, make him suffer like they all did but she couldn't express it, gut crinkling terribly. "Forget it… I don't care."

She burrowed into the covers, eating jealousy and guilt, a course she was sick of!

The girl could hate the nobody all she wanted but that wouldn't be the reason for Prompto being subjected to the full Besithia treatment of lab rat. Nor would she do it to mess with the marshal.

Goddam Cor! Goddam her!

It always came back to him! The asshole deserved to hurt, bad, like deathbed bad! He deserved pain more than she did.

So why did Tempesta wind up being the more miserable one in the end?!

Cor...why did he leave her? Why?!

Then she left him...

Tempesta screamed from under the covers.

"There, there, Darling. I'm here, it's alright." Imperatrix rubbed the top of the blanket where she assumed the blonde's head was.

These random outbursts were frequent during the girl's sickened state.

Judging by the repetitive jerky movement, her retainer was crying. Another frequency to add in to the fist fighter's behavior.

The princess wound her arm around the bundle, head laying on top of Tempesta's.

Soaring then sinking, the erratic tendencies of the heart.

"We should get verification before informing Father." Nebula decided as the eldest and acknowledged heir of the family. "I must see him with my own eyes."

"Okay. Makes no difference to me." Genius dug into his pocket. "There's enough of us already."

"How do you plan to find him?" Imperatrix asked.

"By interrogating the man keeping tabs on the prince."

"The chancellor." Despite the official title being used for formality, the affection in her murmur invalidated the method.

The gunman coughed, chest erupting in pain. Once it was over, he sucked on a newly opened lollipop, uncaring of the fleeting ailment. "Izzy, why do you keep making the candy taste so horrible?"

"So you can associate unpleasantness with smoking. _Genius, right_?" The teenager smirked at his clever pun, fingers mashing buttons on a handheld video game console. "Tempy, battle me. I leveled up my team."

She burst from the cocoon of covers, towering over her younger sibling with a condescending snarl and a downturned pointer finger at him. "Bah! You'll never beat me, chump! I catch the best."

Another handheld was fished out of luggage bags and the fist fighter shoved the albino over, flopping onto the bunk bed to connect the games for a match.

"May the best trainer win!" They chorused, spirits rising in determination.

Imperatrix tossed off the blankets thrown on her by Tempesta's flurry of movement, re-setting the bed out of habit. When her eyes next moved to the empty potato chip bags and soda cans on the desk, Nebula rolled off his bed, landing smoothly to glide for the door, aware what that twitching expression would entail.

He cleaned up last time.

"I'll be in the kitchen, preparing lunch."

The remaining freckle-faced Besithias were too deep in their gaming fest to hear any of the princess's chiding. Finding her actions to be a waste, she merely reminded them to clean the room later, receiving unenthused waves as affirmations.

"So lazy the lot of you." Imperatrix grumbled, wandering out the room.

Sighing, she stood in front of a door, uselessly expecting a glaive to spring out. His cocky grin would be an invitation for entrance and the princess would be affronted for a moment, used to that gall from bigot nobles but Nyx's assertive behavior wasn't to belittle her, wasn't to admonish the princess for breaking convention.

The man only wanted her attention. He was lonely...just like her Ardyn.

"Alas, you are gone...delivered to Galahd."

His absence bothered Imperatrix more than she felt appropriate for their brief acquaintance.

Dalliances weren't her taste despite how liberal imperials could be about relationships. She shared herself with the glaive because the princess came to like him.

How could the woman not find herself enamored when Nyx was every bit a hero materialized? Brave, strong and loyal were all his shining features.

The devastatingly rugged good-looks and fit physique were other appealing features of the champion.

Fast and impulsive were the classifications for their story. A man and woman that under normal circumstances would have nothing to do with the other, crashed into a bond.

So fast...

The emergence of these feelings was frightening in their intensity.

Her whole life...Ardyn was there, a universe for her to admire and revolve around. A span of fourteen years permitted Imperatrix to grow deep, boundless love for the man.

The red head consuming her thoughts and very being wasn't all that strange.

Nyx, the woman knew all the maximum of five months, attraction osculating between acceptance and denial. It had been so long that the princess engaged in a fresh courtship that she wasn't sure if normal relationships progressed this swiftly.

Age was a factor in this second involvement. She was older and more prone to decisive actions than in the neophyte stage with Ardyn, where she learned and experimented with shy curiosity, hence why the intimacy quickly progressed to its current status with Nyx.

The first love was safety, the known. The second...infatuation...was hazard, the unknown.

"I miss him in spite of all this..." Imperatrix admitted to the closed door; hand primed to turn the knob.

To have either Nyx or Ardyn gone from her atmosphere, ached. The differing elapses of time in romances meant little to the princess's heart.

She stepped away.

The cold metal left an imprint of gloom on her palm. With no destination in mind, the snowflake walked on.

Calling the glaive was an option but he most likely wanted space to think. His brief text message at least assured her he was alive after talking to his mother.

She prayed his condition didn't spontaneously erupt into critical while he was marooned on an island with basic medical practices.

Her secretary still had nothing on a specialist. With Starscrouge the biggest threat and Shiva's Curse of Ice the second, cancer took a backseat in the medical field of the empire.

Finding Nyx a doctor would be complicated but not matter what, it would be accomplished.

The Lucii tried to take him and were attempting to finish the job. She wouldn't allow the man to die.

"Why are you folding with one hand?"

Imperatrix backtracked, peeking into the laundry room.

Ravus looked up from the pile of clothes organized before him, mismatched eyes settling on his sister sitting across from him. "Habit."

Lunafreya paused in stitching a tear on a shirt. She couldn't stop herself from staring at the metal arm, mind going back to the blue flames that ravaged her brother.

He wasn't the only one she saw consumed by the ring. Another greedy glaive perished by the old king's judgement.

A part of her felt Ravus deserved the punishment and hoped it would open his eyes to how far he'd fallen from the path of their ancestors. The rational, pious part of her then denounced these heinous ruminations.

All transgressions aside, the unfamiliar man beside her was Lunafreya's last flesh and blood relative. On some level she was angry with the Lucii for maiming him and further forcing the elder Fleuret into more bad decisions.

That magitek arm...

Ravus was hardly Ravus anymore...physically and mentally.

Pryna whined, butting her head into the oracle's side and then repeating the motion for the high commander. In between the siblings was the perfect spot for her to mediate. They were both weak to her nuzzles.

He hesitated to pet the canine, considering what arm was closest to her but the incessant nuzzling won him over. Ravus's initial brush against creamy fur was soft, tensed for immediate retreat at the sign of Pryna's displeasure.

To his immense amazement, the dog rolled closer to him, wanting more of the fussing. The high commander found his lip curling upward.

Even though he couldn't marvel at the softness of her fur —carefully groomed by the owner— or bask in the warm familiarity of skin contact, he still enjoyed this playing.

An arm lost and his natural-born looks altered, Ravus lost much in his vendetta.

The somberness of the mood made Imperatrix withdraw. She wouldn't interrupt the Fleuret session so desperately needed.

At least...the princess planned to leave. Umbra had other ideas.

"Ack! Down boy!" The snowflake screamed at the dog tackling her to the floor, tongue wetting her face.

The wails became giggles at fur brushing her skin, igniting the ticklish weakness.

"Stop it, you!"

Taking pity on the woman, the high commander hefted the dog off, swatting at the energized creature.

"You know better, fiend."

"Thank you." Imperatrix gasped out as he pulled her to stand.

"I keep telling Luna to be sterner with him but she does not heed me."

The oracle hugged the ebony dog curling up in her lap. "He means well."

Ravus exhaled faintly, retaking his seat on the floor to finish folding the laundry. Imperatrix chose to help him, dropping beside the man with a smile when he elevated an eyebrow.

"Just like old times." She bumped shoulders lightly with the metal.

"Do not remind me." He made an effort to use both hands, subconsciously nervous with the presence of both his sister and sister-in-law.

Astonished didn't begin to cover the elder Fleuret's emotion range when the younger relation came in while he was struggling to repair a tear in his clothes. The needle proved too thin for the prosthetic, bending from his movements, thereby making a task he used to find simple, arduous.

From simple to arduous, a transition that now defined his life since becoming a handicapped. His life always meandered into this pattern.

Whatever entity was in charge of his star apparently loved tormenting him.

Lunafreya took one look at her fumbling brother, set down the basket of dirty of clothes propped on her hip and held out her hand.

A silent agreement passed between them.

He loaded clothes into the washer, next the dryer and then folded at the end while she treaded through his torn uniform. His sister reacted to his deficiencies similar to Furia, difference being that his wife wouldn't obtain permission, just do.

Having the fiery woman storm into his office with complaints of his inattentiveness to his pretty wife aggravated Ravus and put him no mood to humor her but when she saw how swamped he was after hours of nonstop productivity, the pinkette lost the flair of petty sniping, opting instead to snatch half the paperwork from him. Whatever she couldn't figure out on her own was passed onto her retainers, lightening the load on the young man's shoulders.

These scenes were very common during the period Ravus was armless and waiting for his surgery. They persisted even after he was back to two arms.

Since his wife was actually doing something other than partying and socializing, he didn't make a fuss over the dramatic displays. Secretly pleased to have someone providing help without ulterior motives.

Well, Furia had motives for everything, she wasn't an altruistic person. His affections being the incentive, he didn't sneer at her schemes of aiding her husband.

"Being novices was not so awful." Imperatrix envisioned them younger.

Ravus hadn't changed much in personality from the teenage years. She on the other hand, mellowed out considerably from the energetic oddity that looked too much like a boy but was too emotional to be one.

Gods…the other students at the military academy had been convinced the princess was actually a prince for the longest time. Nebula had to defend her honor a little too often from the boys obliviousness and then again from the smitten girls.

Ugh…

Very embarrassing things for her look back on but they were still fond memories.

"Of course it was not so for the imperial princess." Ravus countered, ever the frown to her smile.

"You had good moments. Do not pretend."

"Cite one."

"I can name dozens! How about the times your locker was filled with confession letters?" The princess grinned brazenly. "The female cadets found your broodiness and serene features _so alluring_."

"You agreed to never speak of this!"

With Imperatrix in the fold of this tranquil atmosphere, he didn't expect his contentment measure to rise. Her coquettish ways weren't a nuisance to him and if Lunafreya were to provoke him, Ravus imagined his blood wouldn't boil.

Connectivity…

His wits were telling him this was false, that it wouldn't last. Nothing good in his life ever did.

The high commander thrummed with anticipation, waiting for the drop of a pebble into a pond, ripples fragmenting the illusion.

"When did the two of you do laundry? Why would either of you have to?" Lunafreya questioned, stretching out her legs after Umbra's weight caused numbness.

They were royalty, servants took care of chores for them. Before boarding the Setzer, the oracle never did any kind of domestic work.

At the manor, she possessed too much free time from not being burdened with anything.

Ravus handled all financial and family matters but not so much church responsibilities. Ecclesiastical duties were left to the cardinals, who barely consulted with Lunafreya for sermons, festivals, or ceremonies. Healing sessions for Starscourge victims were the only times she left the manor.

Fending for herself in the real world opened Lunafreya's eyes to the daily hardships of the common man.

Nebula coerced her into learning how to take care of herself, refusing to allow the oracle to be waited on by the princess. Step by step, he showed her how to cook, clean her clothes, repair her shoes, restore her weapon and even fashion her hair into climate appropriate styles.

Each mess up followed a scathing review but the gunman didn't abandon her to failure like she assumed he might, given how much he disliked her. Both he and her brother had that unfriendly way about them but underneath it, their actions were helpful.

"When we were first assigned to a legion, we naturally became the most ridiculed. We did tedious things for our senior members." Imperatrix sighed fondly.

Ravus scoffed, reiterating an earlier point. "You were the princess; the other cadets did not dare order you around."

The elder Fleuret was slumped with the hazing, especially since he was a disgraced prince, everything taken from him, title of traitor staining his name and fair, cherubic features making him stand out. There were plenty of subjects for the fellow soldiers to rile him up over.

The bastards loved giving him a hard time.

"And yet, I lent a hand when I did not have to."

"For that…you were foolish." The high commander dragged his finger across soft material, creating creases in the fabric.

Words of a more appreciative nature were in the forefront of his mind. Imperatrix's unending compassion, unasked for and despised, did help Ravus through hellish nights…the nights he contemplated joining his parents.

She made it impossible to hate her…

"You could say 'thank you, Impera' instead." The princess goaded, taking the wrinkled item from the man and re-folding it. "Some of the things I did were mortifying."

"How so?" Lunafreya prompted, eager for these kinds of stories.

Hearing about a person's follies certainly had a way of making them come across less fearsome and large. The emperor and her brother were becoming comedies by the day.

"Say nothing, Impera."

"I want to know."

The princess's mouth twitched too much against the serious air she was trying to maintain. Folding was forgotten for the high commander to tug on white hair.

"I will fight you."

She met his grave threat with a confident assertion. "I will win."

"Arrogant and vain, those characteristics have not been lost from your teenage years."

"Nor has your temper." Imperatrix's eyes slanted, provoked by the incursion on her hair. "Are you still as quick?"

Ravus blocked the playful fist, gaping at the woman flicking the freed tresses back from her shoulder.

"We used to do this frequently at mealtime." She struck at him, palmed blows being deflected, prolonging their game of hand-to-hand. "I could not eat meat but did not want to waste food. Instead of taking my offerings, Ravus fought to keep the food from his plate."

"You should have just eaten it." He grunted, arm twisting around hers to smash their hands to the floor.

What a frivolous pest she was and would continue to be!

"Face your fears already! Poisoning comes as a trifle to the other things you have endured."

"There is truth to that… I simply cannot stomach meat, no matter how safely made it is." The princess wriggled her hand under the metal. "Look, you won a round."

Ravus glowered, whipping the irregularity back from her flesh. His eyebrow rose haughtily. "Well? What are you going to give me as the loser?"

She rolled her eyes, about to tease the man but felt a vibration in her pocket. The phone showed the caller to be Furia, which made Imperatrix cast a dubious glance at the husband.

"Yes?"

"I will get back to you. Excuse me."

Leaving the Fleurets to themselves again, the princess went down the hall, accepting the call from her sister.

" _Elder Sister you must help me!"_ Furia commenced with all the fanfare she was known for, huffing at the end. _"I am at wit's end!"_

"What's wrong?" She calculated the time length to reach Tenebrae in her head while listening to the conversation.

 _"I told Ravus to come at once and he has not! What is the matter with my wretched, boorish husband?! Got damn him!"_

Imperatrix held the phone from her ear, mind frazzled out of panic and into exasperation. "That is all? Do not scare me—"

" _Et tu, Elder Sister?! Don't you love me?!"_

"Wha - of course I do. You are one of my three Darlings Sisters."

" _Then how can you belittle me?!"_

"I adore you but what is going on right now?" The princess leaned on the wall; phone placed back in hearing range at the sounds of Furia's heavy breaths simmering. "Why such fire? Ravus is high commander now. He cannot return on your whim as easily as before."

To this the second princess wailed to people in the background. _"Do you hear this, boys? Elder Sister is calling me trivial! I'm no longer loved!"_

Getting another word in proved difficult as the girl went on a rant of how no one prioritized her. Furia was inconsolable to the point that apologies went ignored.

Imperatrix shriveled into a guilty shell.

With no family, blood or marriage bond, in Tenebrae, the second princess had to be tasting the sting of loneliness, a despair to break the mightiest.

Calling her sisters every other day wasn't enough and in Furia's case, Imperatrix hadn't visited since the marriage two years ago.

How horrible of her! She was the absolute worst eldest sibling in the world!

Assignments and emotional strife aside, the princess should've made time to stop in Tenebrae. Not hide in Persia, in denial of the royal banishment from her father and the massive relationship fallout with Ardyn.

Poor Furia suffered most from her depressive episode and that wasn't fair at all.

" _Don't go beating yourself up, Princess Imperatrix. Take nothing…well, take half of what our doll said to heart. Mainly the things about her husband, not you."_ Felix's voice replaced the original caller on the line, chipper attitude contrasting the noisiness of bawling in the backdrop. _"Furia's mood is all over the place lately. She's more high-maintenance than Eros at this point."_

"What is wrong with her? I did not mean to upset her. If she really wants, I can be there in a day or two."

" _No, no, no. This isn't an emergency but as my mistress was trying to empathize, it's important that Lord Ravus return home without delay."_

The composed tone of conversation calmed one of the princesses. She shuffled her feet anxiously at having to get involved in marital affairs.

The Elder Fleuret already felt she was too involved in his business. The incident with Noctis being a big mark against the princess.

"Tell me the situation and I will do my best to persuade Ravus."

He outranked her military-wise but she could convince him to go home to his wife. She persuaded him to spare Noctis, a much harder feat.

So what if he insulted her and glared her into a hole? Wholly worth it for Furia.

" _Ah, you see…"_ Felix paused, everything becoming quiet on his end from the microphone being covered. A minuted passed before he spoke again. _"Our precious princess is two months along in her pregnancy and would like to share the auspicious news in person with Lord Ravus."_

The world halted on its axis.

" _Since he's not taking her pleas seriously, we'd be most grateful if you'd pass on the message."_

"My baby sister is pregnant?!" Imperatrix exclaimed, the glow of joy pouring out of her. "I'm to be an aunt?!"

He chuckled. _"Yes, Your Highness."_

Felix couldn't get a coherent answer out of the princess as she squealed while he talked. Furia's excited confirmations joined in the cadence of girlish mirth.

" _Tell him for me, won't you? The de-throned prince refuses to answer my calls. The nerve! His pretty face only goes so far in earning my patience!"_

"I shall! I know he will be most pleased with the news."

" _Hmph, he better be. Also, tell him to share this news with Father."_

Imperatrix made a noise of confusion. "You do not wish to tell him?"

She had no reason to be nervous with the emperor. He didn't sign her off as a casualty of war and then make no effort of contact after discovering his daughter lived.

Out of all the girls, the second princess was the most spoiled, receiving anything and everything with little responsibilities to shoulder. It was only now being married into another house that Furia took up state duties.

To be honest…

Imperatrix was very surprised her sister wasn't taking this chance to gloat to their father. She would be the first to present him with a grandchild. Furia's mother no doubt would be satisfied and the second princess craved that affirmation.

Why would she pass up this opportunity?

" _The failure of the Lucian bases and the ensuing forced extraction of the cities reflects badly on Ravus. Especially so soon into his tenure as high commander. Were he to share my news with Father upon his return, the reprisal for failure would soften."_ Furia answered the many topics festering in the princess's mind, voice not nearly as concerned as it should be for the words coming out her mouth. _"As a dutiful, loyal wife, I cannot be neglectful when my spouse requires aid."_

Impressed by the political astuteness, Imperatrix hummed in approval. "Wonderful. It is good that you are growing into the role of a princess. I never doubted you could, Darling."

" _My pets are a great help. I shall learn more from them since it earned me Esteemed Elder Sister's praise."_

"Continue to mature into the finest imperial rose in Tenebrae."

Furia tittered sweetly. _"Yes, Sister. All my love to you."_

The call concluded after the woman repeated the statement, phone returned to her pocket. Head tilting back, she giggled to herself.

Good tidings at last!

Imagining that her mood was so blissful as to be floating, Imperatrix didn't realize she was in fact, falling.

"I may let you fall my Dearest but my arms are always there to catch you." Ardyn promised grandly, holding the princess with the grace of a prince within a story backdrop. "And to keep you safe."

It took a moment for her to regain sense while in the romantic embrace and entrapped in his amorous gaze.

She breathed unevenly. "Why…are you here?"

"It's my room."

The woman took in her surroundings. Their setting was indeed the spare room offered to their unexpected guest.

Although it was strange to see him inside it, since the chancellor was embroiled in something at all hours of the day, scant resting periods spent in Imperatrix's room. Were it not for the documents scattered about and messy workstation on the floor, the accommodation couldn't be claimed as his, bare as it was.

Ardyn had no items personalizing the room, only his presence colored the space.

"Without a thought, I came here…to you."

He lifted the woman slowly, savoring the intimacy of them pressing together until they were standing, arms loosely secured around the other. "Your impending status as an aunt wasn't the reason but congratulations nonetheless."

"You heard — never mind." Imperatrix beamed widely, hopping to loop her arms around the red head's neck, hanging onto him with the support his arms. "I'm so excited!"

The chancellor swung them around.

He saw not a room inside the Setzer but a bright room in Persia, drapes flowing with the breeze, wind chimes singing and petals everywhere to release an ambrosial aroma. The woman smiling and clasped to him wore not simple robes but a lavish gown of pink and gold, flowers threaded in her hair. Though shoes slipping from the feet were a recurring theme in past and present versions of Musa.

So lovely…and so cherished…

It hurt and healed.

"Why do you look at me so, Ardyn?"

He set her down, losing the flare of weakness Imperatrix brought out for his safety mode of trickster. "To be graced by your presence is a blessing but my dear, I am unfortunately very busy."

To both be her and not her.

How troubling to finally have an answer to a question he dared not seek one for. Over two-thousand-years-old and no longer mortal, somehow a young woman struck terrible fear in him.

Love in a nutshell was braving through fears. He'd come to understand that the first round with his wife and was now re-learning it with her in the second round of the wheel.

"How far behind are you?" The princess crossed her arms, good mood bookmarked to be picked up at a later hour.

"So behind! Sybil is threatening to fly to my location and kill me." Ardyn sat in the middle of his pillow pile, hand over his forehead in a staged backward fall. "Why did I hire a violent assassin as a secretary?"

"Why do you procrastinate?" She picked up a folder, leaning over the man to go through an inner pocket on his coat. "You have two secretaries that do most your work, leaving the most important missives for you. Stop distressing them with your idleness."

The man stretched out, allowing Imperatrix to search more, a snicker given for each failure to locate his seal.

"Where is it? Tell you have not lost it." The princess set about lifting the cushions. "Did you steal these from the other rooms?"

"They weren't being used."

"Or you were being mischievous again."

"Dear me! Have some faith in your beloved, Princess."

Arranging pillows on the floor like this reminded him of the old days, sitting around low tables with cushioned seats for meals, reclining on them with Musa in his arms, and art sessions with Tellus.

Some modern setups didn't quite suit him. This world didn't suit him.

"I try, most valiantly."

Ardyn pouted when it looked like she wouldn't go back to searching him. He decided to call it quits, summoning the stamp when Imperatrix's back was turned, smugly displaying the spoil.

"Look what I've found."

"You had it?!" The woman seized the seal, uncapping it to make sure the ink was fresh. "Your games never cease!"

"You're becoming wildly aggressive. I wonder who is to blame?" The chancellor mussed playfully, working side-by-side with the princess to approve or reject proposals and then send the groups by fax to his office.

Technology astounded him. Where were all these contraptions two millennia ago?

"He is an idiot."

Her melancholic confession made Ardyn stroke her arm with his fingers. "Say Nyx stays in Galahd this time. How will you react?"

Papers became rumpled.

"You'll be heartbroken." He stamped in an indifferent manner but in reality, all these documents had been read over by him. Like she observed, the chancellor derived malicious glee out of inconveniencing his secretaries with his quirks. "He was the purpose of your visit."

"For a year, I missed talking to you…the person who knows me best."

The trail of hair spilling over Imperatrix's neck was brushed back. Objective done, he should have removed his hand but the red head carried on, gripping her neck to bring the woman closer to him.

There it was, the tinkle of old magic reacting to her. Ah, love…the inspiration of unexplainable sensations.

"Finish the work, Chancellor Izunia." The princess warned, squirming against the nips to her skin that traveled upwards from shoulder to cheek in an effort to mesh lips together.

She maneuvered away from a kiss, recognizing nothing would get done if surrender was given to ardor.

"Yes, yes, or it's Sybil's blade for me." Ardyn whispered, smiling at Imperatrix's tremble from him kissing around her ear.

Blowing into the lobe elicited a potent quiver that had him near the finish line of the game. A little more and the princess would bloom for him.

"S-Stop…" Imperatrix nearly let go of the paper, sinking little by little into faint moans of delight. "Stop exaggerating…"

"I'm not. You just don't believe a word I say." The pecks abruptly stopped and she let out a startled rasp. "I'm hurt."

How could he kid about his overbearing secretary?

She really did kill him for transgressions.

The hidden blade beneath her clothes would often pierce his throat and then Sybil would drag his corpse to the office. From there he was locked inside to finish assignments.

Sending the assassin to acupuncture therapy was just payback for all the knifes to the neck he suffered. He definitively wasn't in the wrong for that.

Really, he ought to give the woman a taste of her own medicine. Lucky for her, Ardyn was a gentleman and wouldn't kill a lady out of pettiness.

That was what gods did, let pettiness guide their actions. He wouldn't be like the oh, so revered Astrals.

"You are not trustworthy."

The chancellor gasped, theatrically outraged. "I am so!"

"Then enlighten me to more of your mystery."

Rather than blow her off, he gestured to the papers, hoping that for once she'd give the typical response of denial like others would when faced with this kind of choice. "Ah, ah, ah! Equivalent exchange is the lifeblood of society."

"Fine."

The chancellor groaned out a complaint in another language. Why didn't she refuse?!

"Was that…Arabic?"

"Very old form."

"Show off."

"But of course! I am a creature of spectacle."

"Not a creature, a man." The princess corrected firmly, finger sealing his lips at the quip about to be used. "And you are _a man of consequence_."

The dryness of mockery thinned out to dispassion, as if a positive self-image was a broken conviction. He moved to lay down, staring at the ceiling.

"Best hurry if you want answers, Your Highness."

With that dismissal, Imperatrix devoted her attention to imperial business, giving him time to ponder before she took up cracking at the foggy glass to view the image plane. Ardyn lounged on the pillows, eyes affixed on the princess.

She worked the same as before, entire focus on dusty papers. However, Musa was more of an academic, studying for enlightenment and challenge.

Imperatrix didn't research much unless it was battle-related. With so many duties, she didn't have the time for other intellectual interests, so he had to give her break on that account.

For a mortal, the princess functioned at a commendable capacity a majority of her days, unlike the leeches of society, polluting the nation with the self-absorbed nonsense.

How did she manage to be so diligent?

Hours went by before the work was finished, leaving one person drained and glaring heatedly at the other.

"The intensity! You must stop, it's positively tempting."

"Who are you?" Imperatrix demanded, disregarding how roused he was making her with his continued flirtations. Overall agitation was mixing into her mood as well, heightening everything.

She upheld the deal, now he must as well!

" _Ardyn Izunia_ , my dear. By now, you should know your lover's name." The red head tapped his fingers on the fedora sitting on his chest. "Although you call me _Caesar_ as well, I prefer my birth name."

"You do? Why only say so now?" The princess grunted at being distracted, cutting the man off before he replied to an inane matter. "There are no records of an _Izunia_ married into the Caelum family. So, I ask again, who are you? Why can you wield a Royal Arm?"

Pure shock registered on the chancellor's face. His speechless phase confirmed Imperatrix's theories.

She knew he had to be close to the Lucis royal family to know so much about them. Guessing that Ardyn was actually part of the Caelums wouldn't have occurred to her but then the princess remembered the blade that pierced the sky.

Power of that capacity fell into two categories, Fleuret or Caelum magic. Being a male, the former selection was impossible.

Ravus had limited access to magic and couldn't use late King Regis's sword at all, more so keeping the weapon as a morbid trophy. Therefore, this mysterious man could only be some secret Caelum, cast out by his family and seeking revenge for it.

A chuckle so hollow and wretched made her wince. "I keep underestimating you, or rather, forgetting how clever my dearest girl is."

Imperatrix waited for him to go on, identifying the red head entering his pit.

The pit to which there looked to be no escape.

At times he fell to a depth that her hand couldn't reach. For her to fall with him, the destination had to be known.

As opposed to bothering with words, the chancellor raised his hand, Armiger activating for the king's call. In all its splendor, Excalibur formed into existence.

The princess shielded her eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the surge of magic. A trickle moved through her veins, filling spaces Imperatrix wasn't aware were empty.

"Take hold of it."

Caution would have the woman disobey but an instinctual urge won. She reached out, a part of her breathing air for the first time.

How absurd…

To feel magic like this…there weren't words she could form to properly express her contact with an essence of the world unavailable to a bulk of the population.

"This is a Royal Arm?"

"Don't call my sword that, it's the ridiculous title _they_ came up with to exalt themselves." Ardyn huffed at his brother's stupidity. "These relics have always been _Divine Arms_ , artifacts forged by gods."

"Then how are you able to use it?" She twisted the blade in hand, mystified by the lack of recoil from a mortal using a sacred object. "How can I?"

"Weren't you curious about me? We can delve into side topics later." He didn't have a concrete answer for her.

The contract between them meant Imperatrix could access and use Excalibur but in this lifetime, she was human, meaning the weapon should drain her vitality in exchange for its power. This drawback was the reason the Royal Arms weren't distributed to every soldier in Lucis.

What good would cannon fodder be if they dropped dead minutes after attacking with one of the Lucii's weapons?

Divine Arms were meant to be employed by deities or premier creatures with vast reserves of magic.

When Ardyn first acquired his treasures, he couldn't access their full power but he didn't suffer any repercussions for using the relics. The blood of his father qualified him to use them.

Musa possessed godly blood from her grandfather, entitling her to use weapons of the divine. Imperatrix on the other hand…for all Ardyn knew, she was exclusively mortal.

Wasn't she?

"I love you no matter what. Please do not repay that with dishonesty." Imperatrix stopped tracing the designs on Excalibur to gaze at her taciturn companion.

While her suspicions were proved true, the way she felt hadn't changed. With her uncovering what she believed to be the most dire secrete of his story, now was his chance to start anew.

He needn't hide or lie to her anymore. The princess could accept him if he shared his burdens.

Would Ardyn open the window, chance sunny skies or rain, as most did?

The chancellor closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

As much as he hated the darkness, it was there that nothing could hurt more. Being in the light meant exposing himself and facing the results of a rejection or acceptance.

Why did she do this to him?

"My surname comes from my mother… It was intended for me to inherit the name _Lucis Caelum_. Twas not meant to be."

The exhale Imperatrix released shouldn't have been one of relief.

Before her was the prime enemy the Aldercapts fought for centuries, a period so long and treacherous that no one remembered what inaugurated the feud. But all that mattered to her was that he gave her a piece of his truth.

The irony of ill-fated love.

"How are you related to Prince Noctis? An uncle?"

Ardyn full out laughed, a sharp twist in mood. "Goodness! Like father like daughter. Iedolas too fancied me of Mor's line. How dreadfully wrong of you both!"

"Then who?"

"Not yet."

Imperatrix muffled a frustrated shriek, emotions stirring up the sword. Excalibur vibrated, ready to burst.

The master of the blade dismissed it, preventing an accidental explosion.

"See what I mean? Explosions, explosions, explosions." Ardyn huffed melodramatically. "What kind of magus are you?"

"I did not mean to do anything!"

The princess received a flick to the nose.

During the battle with Jabberwock, Imperatrix used Tellus's very own Atom Edge ability, swift slashes disrupting space in a way that produced multiple attacks. Combined with Excalibur, the dragon didn't stand a chance.

"Why won't you tell me?!" Since there was no blade in her hand, the woman jostled the red head by the arm. "I can simply run through the Lucian royals to select your father."

"Good hunting, that's over a hundred guesses."

She'd never get it right. No would ever think to connect the two.

"Just tell me!"

"No." Ardyn caught her fist, lips ghosting over the knuckles. "Moving onto more important subjects, I believe I won the game."

Imperatrix wrestled with being suckered into his encirclement again. "No, I slayed the dragon."

"With my sword."

She slumped forward, unexpected yield toppling them to the pillows. "I never want to do that again. Killing that dragon was awful!"

"What an ordeal my Dearest Musa went through!" The chancellor taunted. "Allow me to make you feel better."

He tickled the princess, thick layers of clothes making it hard for her to retaliate. She lost to the bigger foe, giggling and sobbing from the assault.

"S-Stop! Ah-aha, A-Ardyn!"

"As you missed talking to me, I missed our silly games." When it appeared to be a matter of dying from a lack of air did the tormentor cease, hovering over the woman, a dark shadow to her pure white. "Longing without reaching, aching without healing, calling without hearing. We two star-crossed lovers."

Coming down from breathlessness abated none of the fluster in Imperatrix's face, the molten scrutiny wouldn't allow it.

In the middle of all this poetic adoration was the interlaced awareness of despondency. Why was her happiness with Ardyn clouded by sadness?

Where did this second set of feelings originate from? Sometimes it didn't feel like hers.

All this complexity in her interactions with the red head were made more apparent by her straightforward dealings with Nyx. She rarely encountered mixed emotions with the glaive.

"Are you looking at me?"

How could Ardyn invoke joy and bitterness?

"I see only you." The chancellor sighed, tenderly pressing his forehead to hers. "A thousand thoughts muddle my mind with one glance of you."

"Tell me the darkest one so that I may ease it from mind and banish your look of ache. I am wounded by its every arrival in my presence."

He turned his face from hers.

"Say it."

His fingers tangled into hair once a honeyed-brown and then drained of its color at the end. Not of old age but of tragedy did Musa's hair finally match her brother's snow-white tresses inherited from their mother.

Did the trauma of death carry over into Imperatrix's life? Marking her at birth with this absence of color?

A white to be torturously stained red…

Not just her…many of the Aldercapts were traditional white-haired beings at birth.

Did he doom them all? He sure had condemned the current roster of them.

How did he become this?

"You left me…" The words were less an accusation and more of a weak cry. "All alone."

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so, very sorry." She felt every bit of his heartache and immediately clutched him close, uncaring of his normally heavy frame made heavier by the overcoat, crushing her to the floor. "I know how much you hate being ignored and I did it anyway. I wanted to hurt you for taking Father from me."

The breakup wasn't what he meant. Not even close.

Without her memories, Imperatrix would never understand. It was her death that broke his heart.

Musa died in his arms.

His wife lay dying and he couldn't save her. After all the times she guided him, protected him, stood by him, and loved him…Ardyn couldn't uphold his vow of safeguarding her.

He was a disappointment in every way. A failure sage, a failure son, a failure brother, a failure friend and a failure husband.

What good had he been all those years ago?! His life mortal life amounted to nothing!

"I can be ugly and cruel. No wonder for the request to hold you in hate, than not at all." The princess held tighter, cold affecting her even with the many clothes between them but she didn't care one bit. "Can you forgive me?"

"There's nothing you can do that would ever make my answer _no_. I give my forgiveness freely to you, My Dearest Musa." The chancellor heard her sniffles but with how tightly enfolded they were, he couldn't wipe the tears from her face. He didn't want to let go. " _It is I_ that need ask for _yours_."

He was the one manipulating the empire for his desires, corrupting everything Tellus built, leading his descendants to ruin. If they met in the afterlife, Ardyn planned to beg for his friend's pardon, doing anything demanded to earn it.

Worst of all, Imperatrix suffered most from his actions. Her life was fighting and blood due to him when she should be living the dream held closest to her heart.

A home filled with family. He shattered the dream for her, for his cherished wife that deserved everything good in this world.

"We can fix everything." The princess pledged.

The red head moved so that they were laying on their sides, still clinging to the woman. "Two lifetimes, one in miles of sand, one in miles of snow. I couldn't bear it if you left me again."

"I will not."

This time when Ardyn hummed their tune, a soft soprano harmonized with his tenor. He kept his eyes shut, singing through the discomfort of burning tears that he couldn't allow anyone to see.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Princess, you're very distracted." Nebula chided, holding the sword master upright after her almost face-plant to the ground by a rock. "It's not safe for you to continue if you're going to be like this."

"My apologies." She massaged her forehead. "I have a lot my mind."

"You and Lord Fleuret it seems."

Since embarking up the slopes of Ravatogh, the high commander hadn't spoken. No complaints about tedious side-missions, or barbed threats to them pertaining to his sister's safety. His heterochromatic eyes went from a cellphone to the distant sky in repeating cycle; a most placid of moods.

No fuss from Ravus was peculiar.

Imperatrix radiated cheer in the stifling climate. "Worry not for him."

She'd told him of Furia's condition and the rarest instance of a pure smile overturned the long years of storm in the elder Fleuret. He became soft, joyous mood permitting congratulatory affection in the way of a hug from the princess.

At receiving no resistance or harsh words from her actions, Ravus felt more like a brother than ever to the princess. Perhaps it was the misfortune of never growing up with her stillborn, older brother that moved Imperatrix to strive for that bond where she could.

How different her life might have been with Majeed in it.

"If you say so." Nebula accompanied the princess, thankful for the quiet.

Tempesta was too sick to come and Genius too physically weak to handle the climb. The group was down to four, a lineup that would be better if two of the members didn't make his skin crawl.

If Lunafreya used any top-grade light magic, the gunman would be reduced to a fatigued state like his sister. His coughing fits were annoyance enough, he didn't want to deal with a wounded daemon.

Yipping dogs were the worst.

"Look out!"

A pack of Verinas inhabited the crag-filled area, screeches preceding a brawl.

Imperatrix's shoulders sank, spirit reaching a fatal low. "I have offended some great entity. Why else am I once again facing creatures of the draconian species?"

"Just stay back then. I'll defeat them for you." Nebula offered, gun blast going off in the middle of the pack to scatter them. "They're wyverns though, not fully evolved dragons."

"It is still an indignity upon my house to slay them."

Fighting spirits low this round, the princess and high commander's formations were more in line with supportive roles to Nebula and Lunafreya. The oracle and gunman curb-stomped most the enemies, dwindling the flock to less than half.

The Verinas could still fly with their winged-arms, making them tough to pin down once they registered themselves as the losing side.

"Nyx would have been useful for this…" Imperatrix lamented, tracking the airborne beasts. "Oh, well. I can make do without him."

Blue crystal input into the slot, she activated the magitek sword. The blade became frigid, covering itself in ice. The princess lifted the weapon high, hand still on the switch to output more energy.

"Shatter them, Proto Borealis!"

The Blizzaga spell exploded a cloud of sharp snowflakes and pelting snow, freezing and stabbing the flying wyverns. They all fell to the arctic assailment.

Lunafreya sliced the grounded foes and Nebula shot the free-falling ones. Ravus observed the shower of white, impressed with its aesthetic appeal amongst the dry, mountainous region.

The high commander's attacks were all force and destruction. The princess's attacks were the opposite, deadly elegance.

"Such a peacock…it runs in her family." He wiped a flake off his cheek, metal fingers shining from the wetness of melted snow. "Shall my child be as haughty?"

With Furia as a mother, it was most probable.

When the last bit of blizzard settled, Imperatrix flicked her sword of the shattered crystal, sheathing it once the ice evaporated from the blade. "Let us collect the scales."

"The Jabberwock gave us plenty. Izzy is hardly short." Nebula crouched, knife out to chip dragon skin. "Greedy brat."

Lunafreya helped him by storing the clippings. "He needs plenty for synthesis. Supplies go quickly."

"Now you're an expert?"

"No, but I am learning." Evident by how the oracle didn't immediately get agitated by the sass like she would have in the beginning of this journey.

As vowed, the oracle devoted herself to studying magic. A project made possible by the book left in her room.

The chancellor gave the girl his copy covertly and then pretended to not know what she was talking about when confronted. Understanding his motivations just wasn't meant to be.

Lunafreya would accept his gift, for it meant bettering herself to better help those around her.

"Another uphill climb with oppressive heat." The gunman unzipped his flak jacket, airing out his drenched shirt. "Great."

Everyone basically dressed in summer clothes in preparation for this expedition, knowing that a volcano would be unbearable to scale in combat wear. They all showed signs of being geared-up tourists than royal figures at the moment.

Nobody in the group felt remotely dignified with how sweaty and dirty they looked.

"We should be mindful of our water supply." Imperatrix pointedly peered at the oracle gulping at her jug.

She mournfully lowered the canteen.

At Cauthess, Lunafreya drank all her water prematurely into the hike and the princess shared hers when dehydration claimed the blonde. She was doing much better in terms in stamina this time, no hunching over in extreme pain from burned-out muscles and then keeping up a straight-face to her imperial companions.

All the training was doing her well.

"Let's go. I want to finally be done with these side quests." Ravus announced.

Up the trail they faced Saphyrtail and Spiracorn, battles that shouldn't have posed a challenge but the heat, rocky environment, and altitude raised the difficulty rank of the fights. They won at each junction of monsters but unanimously took short breaks afterwards in caution of overtaxing themselves.

"How are we supposed to go up? This is too slippery to walk on." Lunafreya smoothed her hand over the highly inclined path, sandy substance sprinkling from her fingers.

The slope glinted a pretty silver among the browns and grays of dirt and rocks.

There was no way to navigate upward when they would lose their footing and slide down. Nebula tested it and probably earned himself a migraine for it after hitting the bottom.

He was taking a lot of head shots.

"Allow me." The gunman hefted his rifle up, attaching a hook mechanism to it.

His visor scanned for the best section. Target selected, he fired. Once the hook was lodged in, the masked fighter checked it for stability, nodding when it held his weight effortlessly.

"Up we go."

"You have gadgets for every situation." Lunafreya stepped up to go first, understanding she would take the longest to climb.

Nebula stopped the oracle from grabbing the wire. "You might want these."

A pair of gloves were proffered to the blonde.

"Oh, right. Thank you." She put them on, appraising her grip.

As Lunafreya said, gadgets for every situation.

Now her hands wouldn't get so roughed up with callouses. How silly of her not to think of wearing gloves on outings. Everyone else practically did.

"Here I go."

"Do you want to go next, Ravus? She may get tired before reaching the top." Imperatrix posed when the oracle was off the ground, nudging the man when he didn't react.

"What is it?"

She repeated herself.

"Right. I will catch her if so." The high commander went up next.

"What has him so off beat?" Nebula pried only because the man's mood was affecting his performance on the field.

"That is for him to tell."

The gunman's stillness and blatant staring behind the visor was piercing. "I feel like you've become secretive since these intruders joined us. You used to tell me everything."

"Neb?!" The princess recoiled in shock at his break in apathy that expanded beyond the voice scrambler of his mask.

"Have I lost my value to you? Am I to be replaced with Nyx and Tempy with Lunafreya? They're not walking time bombs."

"How can you say any of this?! You will always be irreplaceable to me!"

"That's not true." His cold, straightforward remark was said with zero hesitance. "The first _Nebula_ was replaceable, therefore so am I."

"T-That's…different…" Imperatrix choked on her words, recalling the boy. "I had no control over that…"

He was her first friend, always by her side. She missed his smiles and enthusiasm.

"Go up, Your Highness. We can't separate the party."

"We're not done with this discussion." The princess swore, going up the wire as instructed since the Fleurets covered a good distance in the midst of their conversation.

With Nebula behind her, the climb felt comparable to the old tragedy she once read of a husband guiding his wife out of the Underworld. If she looked behind, would her retainer disappear?

Imperatrix lost one…she couldn't lose a second.

"Be careful, Luna." Ravus advised, having her walk beside him and away from the cooled magma.

She coughed from the fumes expelling from crevices. "I-I'm a-alright."

"No, you are not." He forced his canteen into her hands. "Drink."

Lunafreya didn't have the energy to huff and her throat was sore from coughing so she put the nozzle to her mouth and sipped.

"More stairs…" Nebula sighed, leaning on the wall. "The magma path looks leisurely."

"Some of it is still hot, we could catch fire." Imperatrix sat by him since they'd fallen into one of their nonverbal breaks.

The two friends were near but a glitch in frequency permeated the air between them.

"Did he mention why I gave him the name _Nebula_?" Her words were fragile, eyes faraway and morose.

"No. That information wasn't in any of his reports." The gunman swiped off the dust accumulating on his visor screen, clearing up the image of Imperatrix. "I read his accounts. They stopped being reports and became more like diary entries."

Disregarding the fact Verstael spied on her through a previous son, the woman pointed to the sky. "Clouds have a negative connotation, bringing forth the rains of misery or clouding joy."

None of this sounded good. It wasn't like her to be malicious, so Nebula held his tongue, waiting for the reveal.

"But that is the balance of nature. There is no good without bad." She took hold of the hand spasming with tension. "For every cloud there is a rainbow in wait. For every struggle, I prayed there would be a friend in wait for me."

He was glad to be right in his assessment.

"Your brother was that for me and you have been the same. But you two are separate people, which is why I began calling you _Neb_ after realizing the truth." Imperatrix smiled sincerely, gentle warmth soothing insecurities. "No matter what you believe, you are irreplaceable. How wonderful life is with you in the world."

After some time of watching fumes of smoke rise, the gunman spoke, emotional tone lost to his mask but the squeeze of their hands spoke of it for him. "Deep thoughts for a child."

"I had plenty of time to think while grieving Mama's death. Besides, he was not a dog. His name merited great consideration."

"I should be thankful then that I didn't inherit a terrible name."

"Indeed, you should." Another tidbit came to mind and the princess shared. "I also chose _Nebula_ because they eventually become _stars_."

The gravelly chuckle sounded eerie but it made her no less happy to hear it. "Her Highness's pride demands the best."

"Naturally I want the best for everyone around in my sphere. Indulge me by becoming the very brightest, _the Orion Nebula of the sky_."

"So much work." The eldest Besithia stood. "Pushy woman, the kind I like to avoid."

Imperatrix rose with his assistance, jocular lilt shutting down that phony resolve. "Liar, liar. You are caught in the web of one."

Aranea had leeway with Nebula.

"Ehh, I suppose that makes me a hypocrite."

"Aren't we all?"

A few rock climbs later, the team overlooked the edge of a trail along on the volcano. A wide-open cavern stole their attention.

From their distance no one could tell if the place was inhabited by a creature. They certainly didn't want to find out.

Finding some fetching orange and red gemstones near the rune-protected haven lifted the spirits of the females. They'd already acquired the dragon materials for Genius. Anything else found could be kept.

While inspecting a gemstone of mixed color, Imperatrix was taken back to the glass cave Ardyn showed her. Titan's battle caused damage to the nearby cities but in the aftermath new wonders of the world formed.

Good and bad in equal in measures.

"No, no." Lunafreya stopped suddenly, sticking to the jagged wall.

"What is it?" Ravus turned around from the front of the procession.

She couldn't tell him, mortification rearing its head for her unintended outcry.

Imperatrix guessed what the issue was from spotting the next batch of enemies. "Say Nebula…can you take out those wasps?"

He inspected the swarm and then the area, picking a spot to setup his rifle. "I can."

"Show me you still hold the title of _Ace Shot._ Defeat them all."

The gunman rolled his neck, craning his head skyward at the end. "I really want a smoke."

"I will not pester you about workouts if this is completed."

"I'll do it in less than four minutes." Nebula determined, agile fingers adjusting the settings of his rifle.

One of his favorite songs was less than four minutes. He'd exterminate the bugs by the last note.

Once a distance from the group's eyesight, the elder Besithia removed the helmet, stuffing earbuds into his ear. A click on his phone and a song kicked-offed.

Mask back in place, the man stalked towards the quarries.

This was his expertise, eliminating opponents.

In battle the rules were kill or be killed, simplistic enough for anyone to understand. No need for the intricate deliberation brought on through human existence.

Things popped off with a boom, right in tune with the vocalist of the song. Nebula flew through moves with his guns.

A hollow man like him didn't devote much empathy to many.

The gunman could count on one hand how many people he gave a damn about; the answer being two and maybe on a good day, four. Some might be horrified by the minimal quantity and to that he would throw back how flawed it was to care too much, like his reckless princess.

Being as open-hearted as Imperatrix would exhaust a person. How did she do it?

How could she manage so many bonds and keep them all rich?

By having a few attachments, Nebula could give more attention to the selected. And even that amount wasn't generous.

About ten years with princess and he still couldn't feel much beyond flickers of positive emotions. Latching onto nothing or negativity was his standard. Hence, why he lashed out on the person entitled to his total respect and loyalty.

Maybe Nebula wasn't meant to be a functioning human. He'd go on being a daemon.

A mad dog.

"That was amazing to witness but very loud." Lunafreya commented, walking around the dead carcasses of wasps.

She was thankful for the save from Imperatrix. The monsters weren't the queen that mauled her flesh and left poison in her but the oracle still shuddered in a moment of apprehension.

First the elevator and now this. Fears were flooding her sense of reason.

This was what it meant to be alive and free. She would have to deal with it.

"Your skills are wasted on long range support. You should be assisting in the front more." Ravus criticized the masked fighter.

"I wouldn't dare upstage royalty." He refuted.

The high commander couldn't tell if the words were a joke or an insult. Either way he resisted snapping and lead them on.

Further down the trail, Ravus met an unfortunate tumble from once more getting lost in ideas of his upcoming role of fatherhood. He slid down a slope right into a nesting ground.

"I swear by all the gods, I will blow this mountain if I face another dragon!" The elder Fleuret cursed, yanking straw out of his hair.

Washing the blood out of his spare uniform was laborious to the point he burned the frock coat. The next winged-beast to ruin his clothes would get obliterated!

"These eggs are massive!" Lunafreya circled the nest, stopping in front of a hatchling bigger than her and all the others bound together.

"Let us not disturb them. Mothers have a natural sense for when their children are threatened." Imperatrix guided the oracle from the bed of twigs and leaves.

The creature had to be an avian judging by the black feathers scattered about in the nest. Fighting a Gryphon in this terrain wouldn't be wise.

"That's a long drop." Nebula pointed to the exit, a dangerous slant that could kill them. "I'll prepare a wire."

No point in going into that huge, long cavern they saw from above. From that vantage he hadn't seen an exit.

Back to the beginning for them.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Does the lady want a picture?" Nebula mocked as the four stood at the peak of the volcano where there looked to be a cave but a river of lava blocked the entrance.

Why Lunafreya insisted on approaching the place, no one knew. He could take a guess and if the princess died, the oracle would follow her.

"I do not understand that feature." She retorted slowly, at a crossroads.

She lost to the chancellor's game. For the sentence, the man dared her to visit the Pyreburner's temple.

A shrine built out of obligation to the god and ultimately abandoned by humanity after the devastation wrought by the flames of war. No one in her family payed homage to the fallen Astral.

Ravus certainly didn't visit this volcano for his pilgrimage and out of them, he was the least devout. Him steeping foot in the tomb wouldn't be so far-fetched but her…

For Lunafreya to do this…it was unprecedented. She would be the first since its construction.

Should she go?

Noctis did need to forge a pact with all the Six. Thinking of the lamb did lessen the queasiness in her stomach.

A step forward, amidst the smothering hotness, a breeze iced the back of Lunafreya's neck. The girl whirled around and there was Gentiana in all her mysterious beauty, a shroud of cool emanating from her.

"Divine Messenger." Imperatrix lowered her head, retainer doing the same out of deference to the bowing princess and not the immortal.

Emerald eyes flashed onto her and then closed in a clear rebuff. The blonde vessel of light became Gentiana's only focus.

"Why do you appear now?" Lunafreya maintained the proper respect but inwardly was miffed.

Ever since learning of the imperial's predicament, she prayed to the Frostbearer, pleading for an audience. Night after night she did this and for the first time, her prayers went unanswered.

Shiva had no interest in conversing with the oracle, not even with a vision in place of a formal discussion.

It was no effort at all for the gods to plant images in her head. If she didn't want to speak, that was all she had to do.

She didn't know what to think about this behavior. The Goddess of Ice was on another tier than Lunafreya, answerable to no human.

They operated on a higher standard. Who was she to suspect the gods?

Still…the nagging necessity to know tampered with the oracle's ability to whole-heartedly believe in Shiva…in the woman to take up a nurturing role in her life after the death of Sylva.

"Come." Gentiana spoke in the measure of softness but there was no hiding the command issued.

Lunafreya did so, bewildered that her brother joined. He scowled when her lips moved in objection and she let it go, not wanting to bicker in front of a well-regarded role model.

Ravus knew exactly who Gentiana was under the guise. The god's machinations weren't going to keep endangering his sister.

"I have heard nothing from you since Ramuh's trial." The oracle ducked her head slightly at the scrunch in Gentiana's brows. She toned down her approach, remembering this wasn't a cheeky chat with friends. "Are you well?"

None of the serenity escaped from the ebony-haired woman as she brushed off the question, replying with one of her own. "Why does an oracle disturb the tomb of the Pyreburner?"

"Noctis will need…" She trailed off, a line of uncertainty stalling her words.

Ifrit betrayed humanity and the gods. Why would the Chosen King need his blessings?

He'd be safer without a covenant with the fallen one.

Who knew how the traitor would behave when summoned to defend Eos? Let alone how he'd conduct himself around Noctis, the one ordained to save the world from destruction.

Some of the legends marked Ifrit as the origin of Starscourge. If that was the case, the King of Light would be his natural enemy.

Was the potential power worth the risk?

Endangering herself for an Astral's support was one thing but doing the same to Noctis was another thing. His path to destiny was treacherous enough as is. She shouldn't add to his burden.

"The Chosen King shall not receive fire's blessing." When Gentian's eyes opened, they were devoid, a masterpiece with no life. "The god is lost, his flame gone cold."

The urge to reach out was compelling but physical comfort wasn't a common occurrence between Lunafreya and the messenger. To initiate that kind of interaction probably wouldn't go over well with the immortal.

Love in fire and ice. All these years Shiva lived without Ifrit.

How tragic.

"Continue the journey. The covenant of the Tidemother waits."

"And how do you foresee Luna accomplishing it? Leviathan is among the most powerful and hates humans most passionately." Ravus made his opinion known since his sister was just going along with everything, raising his voice when the messenger didn't respond. "Do you expect her to die for it?!"

"No reward is given freely, it must be earned. A heavenly trial forges or breaks." She kept her regard on Lunafreya. "Is an oracle worthy of Bahamut's legacy?"

The high commander chuckled derisively at the evasion that also had the benefit of calling his sister out. Of course, the girl indoctrinated on the Astral's grace would nodded eagerly, guaranteeing success without a notion of her safety.

Why couldn't she see how absurd her calling was?!

Satisfied with the assessment of her charge, Gentiana turned to leave. The girl's plea halted her disappearance.

"Did you hear…my prayers?"

Statuesque and beautiful, those were the words to describe a silent goddess in disguise.

"What are you talking about?" Ravus quizzed, wondering why the messenger got angry enough to lower the temperature around them.

The flecks of soot floating in the air turned into snowflakes.

"I wish to know about the attack eleven years ago." The blonde stated with authority, steadying her nerves by the lifeline of clinging to her staff.

Lunafreya knew that if she showed fear to a displeased Shiva, then facing an enraged Leviathan would be inconceivable.

"Does an oracle believe herself above station? A mortal does not question."

The ethereal image of Gentiana fluttered to a shade of blue. The ground frosted over.

Alarmed, Ravus gripped his sword. Lunafreya grabbed his arm to prevent the weapon being drawn.

Green daggers were challenging them to face wrath. The messenger was peeling the layer for the true center.

From Gentiana, the Messenger to Shiva, the Goddess of Ice.

"Is everything alright?" Imperatrix shouted from higher up, disturbed by the colder atmosphere conflicting with the hot.

She was having flashbacks and clung to Nebula's arm.

The oracle sputtered for a moment, conscious that if the princess discovered Gentiana's identity, there would be violence. Her fears were for not, the disguised goddess vanished, voice carrying on the wind.

"Disturb not the Pyreburner. Follow the path laid out."

A lasting shiver was her final parting gift.

"And you place faith in the The Six?" Ravus flexed his aching metal arm in the direction of the blowing snow.

Why did the thing have to cause him constant irritation?

She grimaced, offering no rebuttal. Without thinking, her hand landed on his back.

"I'm not in pain!" He jerked away at the tingle of healing magic, arm hurting more from the help.

"We cannot be honest with one another, can we?"

Was honesty an absurdity in an irrational world? Nothing could be simple could it?

There were times in the past Lunafreya stroked Gentiana's anger by asking too many things. As a child, she would apologize and forget the curiosity, not wanting to lose the one woman in her corner that was above Ravus's influence.

The period of childish obedience had passed. She lived in ignorance all her life.

Lunafreya was sick of it. Sick of all the walls holding her back!

How could she claim to be the oracle, a harbinger of peace if she continued being a naive, mindless pawn?

"How do you plan to enter?" Nebula jeered at the girl, shoulders lifting and falling in soundless laughter. "Walk on flaming water? Like the myths?"

The blonde withdrew a flask from her bag.

A provocation might have instigated this outcome but now Lunafreya wanted to investigate for her own sake.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Ravus derided his sister after the blast abated.

The blizzard spell created a pathway into the cave. No telling how long the lava would remain frozen.

"I must see the holy ground for myself."

"Never mind that this is forbidden but going inside is exceedingly idiotic."

Lunafreya looked upon her brother with astonishment. "Are you agreeing with Gentiana? You never listen to her."

He spurned every warning from the messenger, immersing himself right in the middle of corruption, namely the empire. According to an old prediction of hers, the imperials would swallow the Elder Fleuret, leaving nothing behind of him.

So much of the vision had already come true.

"I do not care about that deceiver! I care about you risking being burned alive by flames! I assure you, it's unimaginable pain."

"Ifrit is dead. I only wish to pay my respects." She didn't feel any annoyance towards him for the overbearing fussing. Minutes ago, he'd stood in front of godly ire for her. "There will be no battle."

Whether or not the God of Fire was truly dead would stay a mystery. Lunafreya wouldn't sing the Song of Awakening.

"You never expect the Astrals to attack us and yet each time, they have." Nebula reminded, inclining his head at the princess. "She also has the fatal flaw of blind faith. It's a risky business."

"It is not wrong to believe in people." Imperatrix argued, lowering her voice for only herself to hear. "Even when they repeatedly disappoint."

"This is a terrible idea." Ravus growled as he was forced to trail his sister toward the cave.

"The High Commander and I are in agreement but overruled. Shocking." The gunman dragged himself after the princess.

"The oracle's will outdoes us all."

"You could have stopped her. Lunafreya actually listens to you now."

The undignified snort was coughed off by Imperatrix. "That is charming of you to think. This is the girl that jumps out of airships, drives high-speed chases and escapes a crumbling city. She is motion without a stop."

"Sounds like you."

"Maybe…when I was younger."

Navigating the frosty waves brought the group inside the cave. Walls were lined with illuminated fossils, adding a macabre air to the excursion.

They all wondered if the bones were from the god or random creatures. The legend claimed Ravatogh was the remains of Ifrit. They could be walking inside a cadaver.

How disturbing.

"I was under the impression you would be the most enthusiastic." Ravus baited the princess in an effort to draw her eye from the protruding skeletons. "Graleans venerate the Fallen One."

"He gave us fire and was the king of Solheim. We give the Pyreburner both respect and wariness." Guided by the anxiety of facing another deity, Imperatrix's feedback was as terse as the high commander's. "My predecessors also believed the choice to be the most antagonizing to the church."

When the Tenebraen monarch first settled in Niflheim, they brought with them the Faith of The Six, an unpopular religion to many established ones throughout the empire. Before the Astrals were thrust on them, the whole of Gralea worshipped variations between ancient Greek and Roman Gods.

For the sake of harmonious peace —and the looming threat of foreign magic users invading on the table— did the Aldercapt family institute The Six in the lives of the people.

All these years, her family knew their origins and would never let them go. They were descended from the mightiest ruler.

"That is a terrible reason for reverence!" Lunafreya declared, the most scandalized frown marring her face.

"People have prayed for worse reasons."

She didn't understand why the princess was experiencing a streak of insolence. It almost sounded like Imperatrix denied the Astrals.

For her part, the white-haired woman was edging towards minor hysteria at the end of the tunnel, where another torment might be foisted upon her for the oracle's pilgrimage.

Lunafreya was awakening these calamities for Noctis. This destruction was supposed to be for the greater good of a prophecy.

How many times would she be cast down into the role of feeble child while in the presence of these colossus beings? The strong front worked for humans and beasts but against them…she feared greatly for her life and those around her.

Imperatrix could fail to protect herself but she loathed failing others.

"This is not abandoned."

Whereas Ravus felt indifferent towards the many ice sculptures filling the temple area, Lunafreya felt sympathetic once more for the widowed goddess.

There were various renditions of people, almost like a crowd of worshippers. The models closer to the front were very detailed and luxurious, making the oracle think they must be renderings of offspring. The faces did look similar to Gentiana's.

All these people were meant to bring life into the lonely ambience.

Nature had been represented in the sculptures in the form of coiling flowers around the table of offerings, leading up to the throne, where a statue of Ifrit sat with Shiva to his side. They looked united and happy.

The splendor of it all brought tears to Lunafreya's eyes.

"She maintains this place for him." She mumbled, tracing the rim of a filled bowl.

The food was ice-bound, as was the jug of wine next to the dish.

Magic poured from everything in this room. The scene of two lovers filled the oracle's visions.

A man of the brightest red hair to put all sunsets to shame, the sun in his eyes, and robed in riches, cradled his other half. The woman of pale blue hair of winter, nature in her eyes, and garbed in refinement, sighed happily as the city beyond their balcony thrived with life.

There came a shift and Lunafreya saw the woman now holding a body dissolving into embers. No screams or wails escaped from her, only endless teardrops as she collapsed on the ground, reaching for the spot where once her husband was. The tears crystalized before they too hit the ground, assaulting the blonde's ears with clamorous sound that steadily increased till that was the focus of her senses.

The agony of listening to the world shatter!

"Luna, what's wrong?"

She flinched at the heavy hand on her shoulder.

Lunafreya swallowed the lump in her throat and cleared away her weeping before calling out. "Brother?"

Ravus tensed at the term. He hadn't heard it in a long time without the accompanying malice.

"Yes?"

"Will you sing with me?"

"I am not singing _Song of the Stars_."

"No, not that one. I will not wake him."

"Then?"

In lieu of explaining, the oracle started the song, trusting her brother to remember, trusting that they could still harmonize.

"Ah, I see…" The high commander had no experience losing a life partner but love lost could include a number of other relationships.

His mother and father in mind, Ravus gave his voice over to emotion, deepness of his notes supporting a sweeter version.

Love lost. A most bitter suffering of life.

"This company is so depressing." Nebula's gun twitched from a disturbance, shot not fired at discovering it to be rocks falling from the ceiling. "It's insulting that Tempy…and Ulric are the vitality of the party."

"I should tell them you said that." Imperatrix threatened in good nature, retrieving her canteen to provide a libation to the deceased god.

"Don't. They'll become misguided into thinking I like them." The heretic retainer didn't follow in this instance.

"But you do." She amended her statement. "At least, Tempesta."

"No, I don't like either. I tolerate them."

"I do not believe that for a second."

"You believe what you want, Impera."

"Or maybe I can see what you cannot."

There was enough ugliness in the world, why not look for the beauty?

Once done pouring half her water, Imperatrix closed her eyes, heart moved by the melody of the Fleurets. Her anxiety faded to nothing. The ill feelings were incapable of triumphing over singing angels evoking peace in their duet.

For some reason, the song reminded her of Ardyn.

The lyrics were in a language unknown to her so she could only tell by melody. His style matched the theirs.

Being a Caelum, the chancellor likely could understand the language of the chosen. Did he understand Lunafreya's lyrics in Saxham? Was that the reason for his criticism?

A Caelum and an Aldercapt…

To laugh absurdly in the middle of a concert would rude.

Shiva and Ifrit, the two oldest tragic lovers, inspired every tale of two lovers with odds stacked against them. Their very natures were in conflict.

How ironically poetic for her first love to follow this trend. Could she circumvent fate?

"Is that…it?" Nebula walked around the shrine, doing a manual sweep since there were no readings of monsters or an uprising of magic.

"I did say I would only pay my respects." Lunafreya rounded on the gunman with a little smile of superiority for proving him wrong.

His gun was aimed at her in a second. "Don't get smart. You're still a hoodwinker."

"Get that weapon out of her face." Ravus spat, sword halfway out the sheathe.

He didn't move.

"The only battle would be between us." The oracle shook her head, showing zero fear for the threat after witnessing how brutal Nebula could be.

She could tell the gun wasn't armed from the lack of red energy that powered the weapon.

"Let us not repeat Ramuh's trial."

"Let's not." Nebula agreed, marginally lowering the gun.

That disgusting healing shower she performed left him itching for hours.

"I have done nothing. I give you my word." She showed him her empty palms, as if it could help decrease his suspicion of her.

"I'll believe you…this once."

The masked fighter moved, announcing the all clear for a return to base.

Lunafreya really hadn't done anything. There would be no covenant.

Opposed to doing her duty as the oracle, she did her duty as a human, gave what solace she could to an entity the world was now taught to shun.

Three-thousand years of hatred. What was the point of bearing a weight of that magnitude for three millennia?

Why hold onto festering negativity for so long?

She puzzled over this dilemma with Ifrit, an abstract and distant event. Her issues of prolonged enmity were similar to these circumstances.

Lunafreya was holding, no clinging onto a rot in her soul. This rot didn't feel so impossible to clean anymore.

Forgiveness had been appealed for. Was it time to give the mercy? Time to move on?

Life was hers at last…

Why not live without animosity? The oracle once told Nyx to move on from the past and she had to as well.

Time to let go and reach for the beyond.


	23. Chapter 23 (Ardyn Mature AO3 Content)

Happy birthday Ardyn! I churned this chapter out especially for the top tier bad guy of XV. There's also a heck of a lot of phrases in this chapter. Some of them don't make sense in English but in their original language they're so darn poetic.

Man, I want to learn Arabic and Farsi so bad. It's on my goal list, so one day!

 **Mature Content on AO3**

 **Latin**

 **Venit, vidit, vicit** \- He came, he saw, he conquered.

 **Persian**

 **Khuda hafiz** \- God preserve you.

 **Be salâmat** \- Go with health.

 **Doret begardem** \- Let me encircle you.

 **Asheghetam** \- I love you.

 **Aziz-e delam** \- Dear of my heart.

 **Jigar tala** \- Golden liver.

 **Kharabetam** \- I'm ruined for you.

 **Cheshmâtun ghashang mibine** \- Your eyes see beautifully.

 **Del be del rah dareh** \- There's a path between two hearts.

 **Arabic**

 **Habib albi** \- Love of my heart.

 **Whahashtini** \- I miss you.

 **Habibti, ya nour el ein** \- My love, you're the light of my eye.

 **Ishq** \- A never-ending love.

 **Ohebbokee** \- I love you.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Why are you doing this? How can you let him do this to me again?!" Lunafreya's eyes stung with betrayal in her rage against the princess.

All sense of decorum fled after Imperatrix announced that she had to return with her brother to Niflheim and more importantly, to Fenestala Manor in Tenebrae. No amount of soft tones and understanding looks would soothe the oracle's panic.

It was outrageous for Lunafreya to feel so negative towards home but that's how she felt after being free in the world. Ravus and the empire corrupted the haven for her.

Besides the citizens and the helpless travelers, there was nothing there for her. She mattered only as a healing oracle in Tenebrae. With no mother and father...and no kind brother, she mattered not as member of the holy house of Fleuret.

The walls were closing in, a prison at the beginning stage of reformation. No, no, Regis sacrificed himself to prevent this!

She couldn't go back.

The seclusion would kill her! The ring would sear with disappointment from the recent Lucii addition.

"I am ensnared, Luna." Imperatrix wished he didn't wear smugness while she attempted persuasion with his sister. "Ravus is head of your household. If he wants you home, then I cannot interfere."

After his stunt of cornering her prior to the meeting to blackmail her, she wasn't feeling very companionable towards him. Whatever moment they had the day before, fled with the wind.

How could Ravus threaten to expose her liaison with the chancellor to the emperor? Was she wrong to think they were closer?

Nebula conned her shortcoming as faith...along with pathos. He wasn't the first to do so either. Glauca berated her for it up till his final moments in Insomnia.

But how could these qualities be faults? What kind of world were they fighting for if they were?

"You are the _imperial princess_. Does your will carry no weight?!"

Funny how Lunafreya could conveniently choose when to use her imperial contacts.

Only fairly recently did the hostility dissolve to civility among the group of Nephilim and Lucians. Everybody on the ship got along enough that lethal confrontations and accidental killings were no longer an issue.

People still bickered but it was more of "tough love" than "I hate your guts" kind of spats. Optimistic steps from enemies to allies.

"If we were in Gralea and she had the backing of the emperor, it might. But here, I am the _higher authority_." Ravus stood from the table, lording over the females with vicious orbs of purple and blue. "If Imperatrix fancies keeping you from me, then she will have to contend with the army."

The oracle shrunk from woman to child, losing ground to her brother in an unconscious step backwards. "You would go so far?"

"And further still." He vowed, queasy at the re-appearance of her fear but his detachment camouflaged this distress. "I have allowed you to travel enough. This pilgrimage is over."

At least when she was afraid of him, Lunafreya stayed out of trouble. The price of her life could be paid with his vilification in her eyes.

From the day he hardened his heart to bow before their oppressors, the elder Fleuret would always be a villain to the younger. The gallant knight she begged attention from in their youth, was dead and reborn through fire.

Nothing would stand in the way of his goals.

"There will be no need for violence. I will not oppose you, under one stipulation." Seated and calm, the princess devised who to pick for the arrangement she had in mind.

The high commander inclined his head in impatience for whatever came next. She wasn't like Furia, so the claim probably wouldn't irk him.

He needed to see her. These people were wasting his time.

"One of my retainers shall accompany Lunafreya, in lieu of her own." She smiled wanly at the dismayed girl. "I will come back with Nyx Ulric."

There was only so much Imperatrix could do in light of armed retaliation from her commanding officer. Glauca was bold in ordering her around in his tenure as general but he would have never threatened her like his successor was currently doing.

Ravus shouldn't have been promoted. Not with his mercenary way of leading and interacting with people. However, the military success over the Crown City won him the cape and laurel.

Venit, vidit, vicit.

Her father would make a son out him yet.

"Better that you do not. How do you expect to get Nyx Ulric into Niflheim? He will be arrested at the border as a war criminal and then executed." The high commander snorted cruelly. "Never mind, go right ahead with your plan. They will behead him in the Colosseum."

"Let me worry about that." She stubbornly didn't envision the glaive subjected to their merciless punishments.

There was a reason crime rate was so low in Gralea.

"I do not care for him to be in Luna's company. We have standards in Tenebrae. He does not meet them."

"Common-born aside, through his service, Nyx is at least a knight by our standards. His pedigree might be low but it is not an insult to your house to have him as a retainer."

"He is Lucian."

"More specifically, Galahdian. Not at all an Insomnian."

Ravus flared his nose, aggravation rising. "He was one of them! _A cur of the Caelums_!"

"You are already getting what you want." Seeing that this was going downhill, Imperatrix relented in snippiness. "What harm can one more person do?"

"Plenty."

"Do not perceive my acquiesce as capitulation. This is a negotiation, not an extortion!"

"Is it?!"

Neither was willing to budge.

Lunafreya couldn't listen to them argue. She'd have to go with her brother to Galdin Quay.

Arranged, was a fleet to escort the displaced civilians to the capital of the empire, where they would then be relocated to other territories. From there it was straight shot to Tenebrae.

A straight shot to prison.

Why the abruptness? Why did Ravus suddenly demand for her to come home?!

He'd left her in Imperatrix's care all this time to complete her spiritual journey without a fuss. She would rather stay with the princess than go back to four corners and an empty manor of ghosts.

Personal feelings aside, she still had a duty to uphold.

What of Noctis's right as the Promised King?! Only with the blessings of the gods and the Lucii could he achieve power to combat the darkness and rid Eos of the evil star.

These trials were for the world itself. Her brother was condemning them to destruction!

Saddest of all, Lunafreya wanted to see Noctis, to talk to him in person.

He was closer than ever, on the same continent as her. She dreamed of finding him and reconciling the boy on paper with the one in reality. Long ago, he was shy and awkward. Had the prince matured past that stage?

Did he still stammer? Doze off into daydreams? Draw doodles of carbuncles?

She wanted to meet the Noctis of now and not cling to one of before. Their cherished book wasn't enough.

Lunafreya wanted the man behind the words.

"An airship will be here in a few hours to retrieve us. Go pack your things, Luna." Ravus ended the discussion with a final huff at the princess as he stormed out.

The oracle didn't respond, blankly investing her deliberation on the dining table. There were dents and marks from the places Tempesta pounded her fists for more food and from when Nebula shot marbles at people for giving him lip. The floors were scuffed from Nyx leaping out his chair so often to avoid attacks and from Imperatrix's pacing in rumination of great matters.

Five months of an accumulation of memories. She longed for more.

Longed for friendship now that the world gave her the opportunity. This wasn't fair.

"Luna, he will not confine you to the manor. I am sure he—" Imperatrix stopped talking the second the girl fell towards her, forcing the princess to catch the blonde.

Lunafreya laid motionless against the other female's chest, remembering to breathe by the thumping in her ear.

"I cannot go back."

The level of despondency made the woman hug the oracle, rubbing life back into the lifeless doll. She was terrified something drastic would follow if another solution wasn't presented.

Insomnia was a prime example of how far this girl could push to get her way. Not to mention, Ravus told Imperatrix of how his sister would also starve herself.

Suicidal and harmful tendencies had to be avoided.

The girl required a therapist like any of their soldiers after battle. She'd been fighting a war, alone for years.

"Oh, Luna. Fair, Darling Luna." The princess knew what she was about to suggest would be no better of a solution but nothing else came to mind. "If this distresses you so…you may accompany me to Gralea rather than Tenebrae."

The hum of machinery drummed on. For awhile, the females stayed in their position, comforted and comforter.

"I could…go to Gralea?" Lunafreya repeated in a stupor.

"Yes. There, your brother would not have the final say."

"No…that would be the emperor." She hauled her head up. "He left me for dead."

"I know." Imperatrix sat again, keeping in contact with the girl by holding hands.

"You do-" The rest of the objection faded.

"At least you will have me as an ally in the capital."

Of course she understood. The blonde sometimes forgot that they shared an experience of abandonment.

"And Father can be reasoned with."

"How?"

"Show him you are loyal. With the war over, he will be prioritizing civil harmony. Your obeisance will be valuable."

The oracle peered at their point of jointure. The irony salted her lips.

She once put Imperatrix in a similar position of perturbation by asking her to betray the emperor and support Noctis. The princess chose to follow one.

Now, Lunafreya had to go against her better instincts for the bigger picture. To retain her freedom, she had to bend to Iedolas Tellus Aldercapt, the conquering king.

Why did things have to be so difficult?

"Think on it, Darling. You have until the fleet sets sail for Niflheim." Imperatrix patted the fairer fist in her grasp. "In the meantime, the high commander's orders have to be obeyed."

"Then I must pack." The oracle let go of the safety of coddling. "Do no forget Nyx. I am…I do not wish this to be goodbye."

"Knowing him, it will not." She couldn't promise anything.

The glaive could decide to wash his himself of troublesome princesses, choosing to stay in Galahd with his family. No one could fault him if he did.

A part of her yearned for that outcome but it wouldn't come to pass. A hero always completed the quest and Nyx Ulric was the newest paladin of their age.

One day they would write songs of his victory over machines and daemons, supported by armored titans.

The departure of the other female prompted Imperatrix to slump onto the table. She was already emotionally drained and it was still early morning.

"Please do not let this be a precursor for the rest of the day." She swiped hair off her neck, cooling herself with the press of cold metal from the table. "It is too hot for all this."

Nebula entered uncompromising conservative-mode when it came to Setzer after this last mission. With the bases shut down, refueling wasn't a swift solution anymore. Their fuel had to be managed carefully or they'd be out a vehicle.

Never mind the financial and military loss they'd cause by depleting the airship. No one would let her borrow another asset after this misuse.

This meant air conditioning privileges were gone, the lights were off in daylight and used sparingly at night. Everyone onboard was miserable from the roasting climate generated by Ravatogh.

No wonder tempers were flaring.

"I find it ironic how unaccustomed to desert climates you are."

Imperatrix jumped out of her seat, whirling to see Ardyn. "When did you get here?!"

"Just now."

"Impossible! I did not see you enter."

Nor did she hear him.

"Well, I didn't come through the door."

She inspected the room as if it could provide an answer. Recalling what family this man hailed from, a guess formulated in her mind.

"Did you…warp here?"

The hypothesis sounded absurd since all forms of warping to date required a weapon of some sort as an anchor, forewarning the target both by sound and object.

"Bingo, give the lady a prize!" The chancellor snapped his fingers, generating congratulatory sparkles.

"I have been a fool." At her sudden epiphany, the princess really considered him. "All along, you have given me the answer of 'magic' for any strangeness that occurred! But I ignored it all."

"See? I told you." Ardyn bopped on her nose in strange beat. " _You never believe me_."

A petty response sat on Imperatrix's tongue but she resisted. "I apologize. From now on, I will doubt you less."

The finger travelled from nose to lips. "I would like that since you are the most important to me."

She buzzed with cheer and then lost it just as soon when the man disappeared before her eyes.

"Ardyn?!" The snowflake whipped around, hunting for a red mop.

"Over here."

He was crouched down in the kitchen, digging around for something in the freezer.

"That's not how Caelums warp!"

"It's how warping should be done. Their bloodline has gotten so weak and diluted that mediums are a requisite for magic." The chancellor found his prize, grumpily huffing at thoughts of his so-many-greats nephew. "Frankly, it's embarrassing to watch Noctis in action. Thinking himself a master with those ghastly warp strikes."

Boy was a lazy fighter, relying too much on magic that when he ran out, he floundered in combat. His companions then made up for the lag while their prince hung back to recover his stamina. Monsters and the weaker foes would fall to these tactics but as he saw with Red Iron Giant, slacker's competence wouldn't cut it.

Such a disappointing archenemy.

Somnus was more put together than his descendant and the fate of the world didn't hang on his shoulders. He would be so angry with this indolent boy. This boy of twenty years with minimal responsibilities and the most undisturbed childhood. His little snag of a daemon attack being the main instance of hardship.

He and his brother certainly didn't have the benefit a regular childhood. No thanks to their blasted father and his side of the family.

What Ardyn would give to see them all tear each other apart.

"This new information better explains your fascination with the prince."

Ardyn unwrapped the paper of his popsicle. "I've waited a long while to meet the boy."

Understatement of the century. It was two-thousand years of a wait after a prophecy gone wrong and everyone turned their backs on him.

"Is he your cousin?"

"No."

Imperatrix glowered at his nonchalant attitude. "Then what is he to you? If nephew and cousin are ruled out, then nothing else makes sense!"

"I told you, my dear." He broke the frozen treat in two, placing one half in the princess's mouth. " _Not yet_."

She squeaked at the coldness hitting her teeth and going to her head. "Who eats ice cream this early?!"

"It's perfect for this weather. The locals are known to sell cold delights. I went out to buy some while you all left me to my lonesome." Ardyn leaned on the counter, gnawing at the popsicle with none of the difficulty his ailing partner presently had. "Makes one want to go into town for more."

Being confined to this ship for more than a week, borderlining two, was starting to get to him. Open-world traveling was more his style.

"Why did you do that?" Imperatrix held her head while eating.

"Because your petulance struck a nerve."

"Your perplexity strikes mine."

"We're at a stalemate then."

She whimpered again at the pain to her head. The chancellor bit off the remaining chunk of her popsicle, freeing the woman of tribulation and satisfying his craving.

Not as good as the sea salt flavor in Altissia but the lava rock had its appeal.

"Oh! Look, Ardyn!" The princess held up the stick.

Written in bold was the word "Winner".

Coincidence or fortuitous sign? Either way the red head's heart skipped a few beats for what he had in mind for Imperatrix.

"Something wrong?" She touched his cheek, wincing at the difference in skin temperatures. "You are pale and as cold as the ice cream."

Before Ardyn realized it, his scarf was being untied and his shirts loosened.

"Princess, in _broad daylight_? _And on the kitchen counter_?!" The chancellor groaned in both pleasure and pain as Imperatrix's fingers trailed over old injuries inflamed by light magic weakening the daemon's healing factor. "Naughty, absolutely naughty."

The sight of his suffering made her immune to distraction, solemnly taking in the mystery.

"Tell me of this." She clenched her jaw and sniffed back misery. "Please?"

Whoever did these things to Ardyn was a savage!

"Don't cry for me. I don't deserve it." The red head cupped her face gently, wiping the tears away.

"You think yourself undeserving of common decency? Undeserving of having someone else care for you?"

"I am worthy of nothing…but seek everything."

Revenge, love, peace, they were all his to covet. Retribution against his brother's line that stole everything from him. The devotion of another. A resolution to his endless cycle of days and nights.

He was greedy for it all.

"That sounds very human considering how you try to convince the world of your evil nature."

"Clearly, I've failed with you. You're not afraid of the Daemon with Yellow Eyes."

"Bursting the bubble here but you have failed with multiple people."

Ardyn chuckled at the brutal put-down. Undaunted by the reaction, Imperatrix stole the armor off his head.

"I could state the obvious examples of myself and those around me. However, it is better to use the unusual example." The princes directed the inky-black hat at him. "Lunafreya told me about the book."

"It was gathering dust in my Armiger."

"Teaching her alchemy?"

"I had the spare time."

"And the advice you have given her?"

"More like insults."

Imperatrix pushed the imbecile playing contrary and denying every case of generosity. "Will you simply admit that helping people is inherent for you?"

When he wasn't playing large-scale politics anyway. The chancellor didn't a give lick about the rich echelon but the peasantry he looked out for.

Jude a man not by how he treated his equals but by how he treated his inferiors. Burrowed under the muck of life was a good man.

Let him be free.

"Once upon a time…I would have." Ardyn caught white tresses through his fingers as he walked by. "I have a few things to complete. I'll see you later."

Baby steps were better than lies or flat out refusals. She knew the worst. Everything else could be weathered.

Now, Imperatrix had politics to handle.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Quit asking already! I don't have a problem going to Galdin Quay." Tempesta folded her arms behind her head, tilting off balance a little from the weight of duffle bags hanging off her shoulders. "It's spring break for me, bitches!"

"Behave wildly if it please you but leave Izzy and Luna out of the debauchery." Imperatrix probed repeatedly at the helmet.

"Damn, I can't mess with her a little? Temple could use some." The fist fighter mimed throwing back a shot. "How else we gonna deal with Raving Rav? I got not no Ecstasy on me."

"Would you and Izzy stop with the puns? They're not witty nor funny." Nebula complained in the middle of reattaching the side car to their motorcycle.

"Screw you." She automatically replied.

"Ehh? Maybe I should keep the bike."

"No, come on! I need it!"

"For what?" The gunman gestured to the imposing military air-bird the departing group would flying on. "You won't be driving on the Nautilus or driving away from Galdin Quay."

There was no reason for him to turn over the vehicle on his sister's whim.

"I just need it." Tempesta insisted, dropping her bags into the side car and sitting in the driver's spot.

What if…

Totally impossible but there was always the chance Cor would call her, try to change her mind. Not like she would but the guy could put up a fight for her.

There could be a sighting of him too with so many imperials gathered at the port. Their match would commence upon the sands of the beach.

The fist fighter had to be ready.

It really bugged her how much glimpsing Cor would make her day though. The sun hitting that toned body, already dark with a tan, would mangle her mind. Fighting could take a backseat for him to give her the waves of a good time.

Shit, wait.

They were supposed to be done. She promised to kill the immortal, not screw him.

Dammit!

"Fine. Don't damage it." Nebula put the key in the ignition, starting the bike.

"Who ya telling? This is our pride and joy!"

"At least we agree on this one thing."

"Who's being a dumbass now? We can at least agree on two things." Tempesta wasn't subtle, pointing at Imperatrix.

"There's hope for you yet. I feel less like killing you."

"That's my line, Geezer." She revved the engine and speed off before their good banter went sour. "Seeya, Bro!"

The disaster drove right through the men hauling Genius's equipment from Setzer to Nautilus, causing the scientist to blow his top. He chased after Tempesta, doing better than a normal human would at keeping up with a moving vehicle.

Regardless, his endurance was terrible.

Genius crumpled into a coughing mess a minute later, episode reminiscent of Nebula's attacks. Bony teenager didn't have corroded lungs though, he was just a wimpy punk.

Exactly why he told the kid to get on his training.

Boisterous laughter mocked all those misfortunate enough to be riding on the same vessel as the middle Besithia.

"She's the high commander's problem now. Thank the gods." Nebula announced, sighing at how the princess deflated.

"The leisure will be good for her. Good for all of them." Imperatrix reassured herself. "Who knows how the empire has changed since The Fall."

They would be walking into the unknown.

"You could call and ask."

The princess dragged her foot through the dirt, weight of her phone making itself known at that moment.

She'd just chastised herself about being more proactive with her sisters. Should that motivation not also apply with her father?

Family above all.

For the slap on the right cheek, Imperatrix had to turn to him the other cheek. If she couldn't master this lesson now, then how would the princess be an effective empress?

"Do not prolong this, Luna." Ravus took her bags, leaving the oracle behind to bid the last farewells.

Subsequently miserable, the younger Fleuret couldn't lift her head to speak. Seeing the world wasn't possible when her eyesight was childishly blurry.

She constantly fought for the right of acknowledgment as an adult and here the oracle was, behaving like a little girl. It frustrated her! It enraged her how Ravus could set back all the progress she'd made and re-render her to inadequacy!

Didn't he care about her? How could he undermine her efforts at every opportunity?!

And she started to think they might get along.

"Kuda hafiz." Imperatrix kissed the crown of golden tresses. "Be salâmat."

The world cleared, as did the heaviness in Lunafreya's body.

"I have no idea what you said but I sense the care." Light broke through in her smile. "Thank you, Impera."

"We shall soon meet again. By then, I hope to hear your answer."

She nodded.

Lunafreya would have to decide which adversary to submit to. Brother or emperor?

"Goodbye, Nebula."

He bowed low, palm over his heart. "Safe travels, Lady Fleuret."

At least he could be respectful when it mattered. She'd gotten more than her fill of his meanness.

As the last of the imperial soldiers exited Setzer, the oracle knew her time was up. With a lengthy exhale and a square of her shoulders, the blonde left her friends to join the antsy high commander standing sentinel at the ramp of his ship with Pryna beside him.

Her guardian canine was a more pleasant sight than her brother.

"And then there were three." The gunman held the princess steady as blasts of winds threatened to knock them over.

Imperial might at is finest. The new flagship for the land forces was a beastly silver bird. Still nowhere near the Eidolon, champion of the royal family and maned by the air admiral.

Nyx would've gushed like a fanboy if he were present. He like these things, evident by how the man repeatedly insisted on piloting.

"Have you seen Ardyn? How unlike him to miss a sendoff." Imperatrix fixed her windblown hair, eyes darting around for a hiding chancellor.

"Maybe they overtaxed our prestigious official." Nebula scratched at his pocket of smokes. "They sure as hell did for me. How did I resist a drag?"

The response surprised her. She wondered if he had an inkling to Ardyn's malady.

Or was there something going around? Tempesta was still weak and ill.

"I'm going on a supply run. Will you be alright?"

"Of course." She climbed up the ramp with her retainer a pace behind.

"Okay. Please keep all misdeeds out of the kitchen."

The princess almost missed her next step, being pulled upright by the gunman.

"I am not Tempesta!"

"Ehh…you never know."

"Neb!"

He hopped into the jeep, tugging off his helmet now that the intruders were gone. Fooling them for the sake of chuckles like Tempesta demanded, meant Nebula was stuck in the helmet almost all day of everyday.

The game of charade was getting tiresome.

"Any special requests?"

"I would like more tea packets if they can be found." Imperatrix sighed. "Lucians are so coffee obsessed. Ebony is everywhere but simple tea is nonexistent? Where is the justice in this?"

"Could you have asked for anything more boring?" The man shook out his messy blonde locks, tying them into a low bun.

This heat was killer. Ifrit was definitely getting the last laugh out frying the humans living near his volcano.

"Well then, you can stock up on feminine products to spice up your day."

"Shouldn't have said anything." His eye twitched for the future disturbances he'd deal with in the store. "I'll get them."

They needed less females in the party.

Imperatrix waved as the jeep zoomed out into the world. She closed the ramp entrance, resolving to find the missing chancellor.

What Nebula said worried the princess.

How could the Fleurets have exhausted Ardyn? He dealt with worse characters at court and didn't bat an eye. Why would the gunman draw a connection between the two?

Something was right in her face and she wasn't seeing it.

"Where are you?" Imperatrix clicked her tongue at the sight of her room.

Searching the ship unveiled no chancellor to her. His precious car was still in the dock. The man would never abandon it so he had to be somewhere on the craft.

Calling his phone was the next step.

Stepping inside the room and spotting the nuisance outstretched on her bed evoked a sharp inspiration of retaliation. The peacefulness of Ardyn's sleeping face saved the man from a phone chuck.

"Insufferable imp!" She grumbled to the sleeper, mindful to not rattle his position when stationing herself near him. "Making me worry for nothing."

Vexation glided to tenderness briskly for the trust and vulnerability Ardyn placed upon her. He periodically seemed afraid of sleeping, almost trying to outrun it by tackling task after task, spoiling his health.

To be a shelter where he felt comfortable resting, was touching. As often as he was doing this, the princess didn't want it to stop. A person could get accustomed to something faster than they could grasp.

Sleeping alone was wholly inadequate now. Be it Ardyn or Nyx, she wished for someone beside her.

Imperatrix scooted closer, laying her head on the chancellor's chest, playing with the scarf left untied from her earlier fussing.

The strangulation scar burned gruesomely on pallid flesh.

How was it feasible for a man to bear so much pain? He had more scars than her and she was the one frequently fighting.

What battle did he fight? Was it still ongoing?

Some time had passed in the span of Imperatrix's exploration of a story when the faster rise and fall of Ardyn's chest startled her. Sensing that a nightmare plagued him, the princess jostled the man.

"Darling?"

His pattern got worse.

"Ardyn?!"

At that, the chancellor flew up, knocking the woman off in his panic.

"Musa!" The rest of his cries were an incomprehensible patois of Arabic that Imperatrix couldn't understand.

The fetal rocking more or less clued her in to how bad the dream bothered Ardyn. Chance given for a role reversal, she slid her arms around a sturdy back, face wedging into the crevice of his neck and shoulder.

The shaking lessened.

"Doret begardem."

"That's the problem…" He choked out.

She moved her hands up to his pounding heart, fearful of the organ bursting out from the harsh beats. "Asheghetam."

Nightmare fresh in his mind, her affectionate words hurt more than Ardyn could stand. He sobbed into his knuckles, grinding them into his sockets. His flesh stung from the acid but that wouldn't kill him.

Imperatrix couldn't die! The tragedy alone would snip the hanging thread of his sanity. He'd let the darkness run wild then.

The world would fall into everlasting night horrors, a fate more devastating than the Astral Wars on this land of theirs.

"Aziz-e delam." The chancellor twisted around, collapsing into the white dream cooing lovely Persian.

She became flustered from both the endearment and the instance of her consoling him when his previous behavior featured the man pretending otherwise of his fractured soul.

There was…such openness between them now.

"Oh, jigar tala." She murmured dreamily.

"Truly? You haven't used that since our early courting."

"Everything was so new and fresh back then. I was innocent." The princess combed her fingers through red. "Now I am wiser and I believe more suited to using those words."

Ardyn should have corrected her, being older meant recognizing a calamity like him but the man selfishly basked in the love he could no longer hold at arm's length.

Unable to hold the weight anymore, Imperatrix fell backwards, crimson lover draped over her. He wasn't impervious to her infectious joy.

The snags of sorrow crinkled to dust the more Ardyn gazed at her. One blink and she was younger, an animation of honey curls, blue-violet eyes and markings of a magus. Another blink and she was mature, the serenity of milky curls, indigo eyes and battle marks.

Twice he treasured this wonder.

"The Fleurets are gone?"

"Yes, along with Tempesta and Izzy. Nebula has gone into town for supplies."

"We're alone?"

"What mischief is swirling in that head?"

The chancellor leisurely broke out a grin. Anticipation for that mien made Imperatrix's heart race and he felt it.

Ardyn hovered over her face, sweeping away the woman's expectation for a kiss instead with a cheeky suggestion. "Let's go on a date."

"What is there to do? This place is barren compared to Lestallum."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. I happen to know the ideal outing for us."

She rubbed their nose together. "Alright but no buffet of sweets. My stomach cannot abide it."

"What a letdown." The chancellor contemplated the open suitcase across the room. "What will you wear? Unsurprisingly, the outfits I brought for you are wrecked."

The only survivor was a thick Gralean gown in the closet. Exquisite and entirely unsuitable for where they were headed.

No, that dress was meant to be a homecoming display. The people would witness their princess ride in gloriously.

"I don't know." Mortification and disappointment didn't stay on Imperatrix's face for long when a box fell from a portal to land on her lap. "What is this?"

The design work on the case was Persian but didn't give the impression of being anything from a store. Stranger was the tug of familiarity she sensed from it.

"Open and see, Dearest."

Popping the lock, the softest pair of kaftan and sirwals, both a light peach of intricate patterns, rested within. Lifting them uncovered the bronze giveh and belt underneath.

"Where did you get these?"

Ever since snow overtook Gralea, thin clothing like this was no longer a trade commodity. Only in Persia did she get to wear these things and they weren't fashioned in this manner.

The dye and imagery were rich materials and unlike anything of the female vogue in Ismail's harem. For one, why was there so much thunderbolt and oak representation?

Under her cousin's dynasty, the patron deity of Persia was Lakshmi. Therefore, the clothing often depicted lotuses, owls and elephants.

What time period was this clothing emulating? What deity?

"I don't suppose you'll need this."

In Ardyn's hold, cradled so reverently, was a beaded headdress with a veil attachment.

She decided instantaneously. "Yes, I will."

"But your hair…"

Wasn't short anymore.

Before, on the rare occasion she could wear a dress, the princess got creative in solving her hair dilemma. Taking a page from her conservative mother, Imperatrix fastened veils or scarves to headdresses and tiaras for an illusion of femininity when it couldn't be provided by her boyish haircuts.

With curls as long as her back, the snowflake no longer needed the subterfuge. Nonetheless, she still adored the style in the end.

"I want to wear all of it."

The ensemble was so lovely that to leave one piece out would be an insult. There was also the surge of nostalgia it all summoned that begged for her compliance in being garbed in it all.

Ardyn passed over the headdress, tutting when the princess stepped towards the bathroom. "Is that necessary? I have seen everything."

She rolled her eyes, undressing before the chancellor. "You must wear something different as well."

"What's wrong with my dashing state apparel?"

Imperatrix giggled at how disorderly his "dashing state apparel" appeared after a nap. "For one, it will be out of place. Two, as I am dressing up for you, the same should be done for me."

The dreary black was becoming a redundant eyesore as well but she'd never say that. He could be as sensitive about his clothing as she could.

What they differed in were confidence levels.

Ardyn could take fashion to a new level with some of the colorful things he wore at court. Attention was his in every room he walked in. She was very partial to these theatrics and was disappointed with how devotedly the man stuck to his uniform in Lucis.

Where were his doublets, tunics, trousers and robes?

"I like to impress you. Do you feel the same?"

"I can't say no. We can match!"

Waiting for another box to materialize, the princess once again was outdid by the actual outcome. A snap of his fingers induced dark clothing to sprinkle like shards, re-forming into an opposite color panel.

Ardyn's trousers were cream. His outer banyan was a darker peach, validating their matching outfits. He couldn't go without the scarf and fingerless gloves though. Too much attention would be on his scars.

The fedora was unnecessary. The man wore it with everything!

"You appear ridiculous. This is a crash of cultures."

Yet it flowed naturally on him. Lively and free, exactly as he was supposed to be.

"It stays, Musa." The chancellor captured two fists.

Not that she could reach the fedora when his head was far higher than hers.

"You have your accessory and I have mine."

"People are going to stare."

"Evidently, they will when I have a bewitching woman on my arm. Their minds won't be able to handle it."

She shied away, not able to go more than a step with her hands captive and fidgeted. "That is not what I meant."

Ardyn chuckled at her expense, spinning them in a sedate circle, nearing the door with each revolution.

"Shall we go, my Dearest Musa?"

"Take me away."

He would do so in a heartbeat. Thus, the circle broke and the chancellor guided the princess to felicity.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"We're at the last ten minutes of our drive. Can we please stop listening to this generation's repetitive pop songs?" Ardyn whined loudly to the woman singing along with the radio. "My soul is about to leave me!"

Watching her enlivened by the music, sitting on top of the seats to sing to the sky, was endearing but if she sang one more trashy song about idealized romance, he'd smash the radio. Listening to ridiculous advertisements and phone-ins about dull topics of "ghosting" were also getting him into the violence strain.

This was why the chancellor only used the radio for news broadcasts. Who cared about the rest of this rubbish?

How in the world did Iedolas put up with these habits?

All three of the older princesses liked bombarding the palace with the pop genre. The emperor ocassionally had the righteous right to bemoan his fate as a father of four girls when he had to torture his ears for them.

"Dramatic till the end." Imperatrix turned the volume down, now fighting to be heard over the wind. "What do want to listen to?"

He switched to the CD option.

"How is this better?"

She could tell this disc was one of the melancholic mixes from the first somber tune. Her mood was plummeting with the low notes.

"Are you not supposed to be merry with me?"

The driver took a hand off the wheel to pet her cheek with his knuckles. "I am most merry but where we're going, a mellow mood is better. Unwind yourself, Dearest."

"Still won't tell me?"

"I will not."

"King of Mysteries." The princess objected.

"Never anointed."

"Ah, that was...unkind of me. I am sorry."

He was meant to be a Caelum, meant to be royalty but denied both chances. But how could he have been a king?

Whose son was this man?

" _No one knows what it's like, to be the bad man. To be the sad man, behind blue eyes_." Ardyn sang better than the artist, haunting and compelling with secret experiences. " _And no one knows what it's like, to be hated. To be fated, to telling only lies._ "

Imperatrix didn't like the contrast in heavenly sound and depressing lyrics. Nor that oppressive bubble that built around him.

Why did the air feel thick with something?

" _But my dreams, they aren't as empty as my conscience seems to be. I have hours, only lonely. My love is vengeance, that's never free_."

"Darling…I do not think we should listen to this CD."

"We won't be able to. We're here." He parked Vixen in front of an establishment.

"A hot spring?!" She exclaimed after reading the sign. "Yes, yes, this is superb!"

Minutes of unease faded.

"Musa, wait!"

The man that could teleport in a split second wasn't fast enough to stop a young woman from bolting from his car.

"Your shoes!"

Sure as the seasons, Imperatrix realized her folly, hopping from foot to foot. She hissed at the prickle and sear of being barefoot on sizzling gravel. A bump into the chancellor and she got relief by resting on his shoulders as he bent to solve the problem.

"Silly, silly girl." Ardyn swiped over her feet to clear the rock bits, eliciting titters from the princess.

Straightening after affixing the giveh to feet, sent a shoot of pain through his leg. He concealed his grimace before Imperatrix saw.

"Let's go!" She was too excited anyway to notice the lapse, tugging the chancellor towards the building.

"Not so fast! Have a care for one not so young anymore."

"Stop it. You have the air of someone ten years younger with a clean visage."

"That's a slick way to tell me to keep shaving."

"I do not need to be slick. I ask and you do, mostly."

"You've got me wrapped around your finger. I implore you to take advantage of it."

"No reneging on that."

The lovebirds were greeted by an employee once inside. Ardyn shooed Imperatrix from the desk while he arranged things, pointing her to the exit for the trail. She reluctantly yielded, in leaving, held onto his hand until distance dictated separation.

Exploring the exterior, the princess was intrigued by the establishment's immersion into the mountainous landscape. The sound of running water and wafts of incense were soothing to the soul. She propped herself on the rail, watching the sun smear the sky.

An arresting view.

"I want to sketch you." Imperatrix slackened into the body wrapping around hers. "May I?"

She could melt at how his silky voice wrecked her logic.

"How do you want me?"

"I'll show you." He murmured sensuously.

Delicately, Ardyn conducted the princess into a pose of dreamy sun gazing with her back to the artist. A sacred subject shouldn't show too much to the viewer.

For Imperatrix the light touches were torment, followed by more anguish in the reprimands to not glance at the chancellor once he began drawing. Vaguely, he could be seen out of the corner of her eye. That would be the closest she could get for a cheat view.

Disappointing that she would miss that studying-eye of an artist.

The way he regarded her during modeling sessions was a battle of passionate yearning and chaste esteem. Those glances elected her the muse and made Imperatrix feel worthy of "Musa".

"I signed you up for the spa treatment. Try not to enjoy it too much." Ardyn's pencil marking noises came to an end. "My jealousy should be reserved for two others. No one here is adequate for spot three."

She stretched out and then sat next to the red head, curling into his arm with her face tilted up to flutter her eyes.

"Darling, I am positive you will do far better to me."

"Wonderful, lustful things." He muttered lowly, moving for her lips.

An interruption in the form of an employee had the chancellor peck the princess on the forehead instead as she was whisked off for a massage.

She knew relaxation and serenity for the next two hours of pampering. The good mood was further buoyed by the staff's disclosure of Ardyn referencing her as his wife and their laments for spouses that spoiled them with affection and gifts.

The connotation of husband and wife between them was a dear thing. Even if it was only for one day, Imperatrix would cherish this play.

Being together with Ardyn. How nice for the dreams to become reality.

"If you were so fatigued, we could have stayed on the ship." The princess chided her man, removing the fedora from his face.

He'd dozed off on a couch while she was gone instead of treating himself as she thought he was.

"Habib albi. Whahashtini."

Imperatrix pecked his nose at the drowsy proclamation. "You are still asleep."

Evident by how Ardyn was speaking Arabic to her Farsi. From how often he spoke the language in his sleep and the unintended slips into it during conversations, she wondered if Arabic was his second language after Latin.

Although, him learning Latin first didn't make sense with the man being from Lucis, a predominately English speaking country. He told her it was his first though.

Arabic being the second made even less sense. Nothing aligned with Ardyn Izunia like it would for an average person.

"Habibti, ya nour el ein. Ishq."

But what was logic when faced with such poetry?

"Are you hungry? Dinner is being served."

Some lucidness entered the chancellor's expression and he let out a big yawn. "I'm famished."

He meant that. Drained of magic and weakened by two light users, Ardyn's body was in the vulnerable state of mortality. If killing him were on the agenda, this was the easiest time frame for it.

Things like hunger and exhaustion were affecting him.

The two settled at a table in the dining hall where a few other people were. Those occupants were locals, leaving the princess and chancellor as the only couple present. They drew attention, double so from their clothing and triply so from Imperatrix's obviously foreign features.

No one approached them but they talked.

"Does it ever bother you?" She lined the tips of her fingers against her date's, all too conscious of their different skins.

"Not a bit." Ardyn angled his fingers so they twined with hers. "As a dear friend of mine used to say, 'Beauty is beauty and love is love. It matters not the where or the who.' Such a hidden philosopher he was."

Tellus could be wise in his sparse reflections that mostly occurred after the sod injured himself and was stuck on bedrest. He would make the recovery periods last longer by drinking barrels of wine. Then he became a guru on all matters, stunning Ardyn and Musa.

The funniest part was that the white haired prince would remember nothing of these enlightened moments, reaffirming his typical rambunctious personality.

Why should color, culture, or class be a deciding factor for a couple not to be united? Ah, but he was being a bit of a hypocrite.

Class was a reason that prevented him from being with a princess; in both lifetimes apparently.

"Sometimes it bothers me." Imperatrix played with the straw of her soda—a rare indulgence. "To be a black sheep in a flock of white sheep. They are always scrutinizing."

She was grateful for the unconditional assurance but it couldn't entirely quell her discomfort.

"I wonder how different it would have been if Majeed and Zeno lived. I would see more faces like mine at home then."

Ardyn recoiled at the first name.

"Sorry. I am being dismal."

He immediately corrected her assumption. "I can never understand this difficulty but I can listen to you. I never get tired of doing that."

"Untrue." Imperatrix's restoration to coyness was a welcome sight. "You grew tired of listening to me sing corny pop songs."

"That's true. I'm caught." The chancellor nodded far too gravelly to be taken seriously. "But I did try for _forty-five minutes_. That has to count more!"

"It does, my own Darling."

Their sweet-talking continued through dinner and their walk along the trail. Ardyn felt the culmination of anticipation in his chest for what he planned. Long-forgotten nerves were hindering his ability to act on this proposal.

He was two-thousand-years-old, terrible and great experiences under his belt. One woman shouldn't make him this nervous.

She shouldn't make him so human.

But…could that be why he clung to her? A last ditch effort of his subconscious to turn from damnation?

Even beasts could pine for salvation.

"You have gone quiet, retreating into your mind." Imperatrix pulled the chancellor to a stop. "Ready for bed?"

They were back at the spot form earlier, only the sunset was replaced with the moon and stars. Still a dazzling scene.

"I am ready for something else."

It was too dark to see the dusting on the princess's cheeks but he could tell from the drop in her breathing that the thoughts circling under those white waves weren't virtuous.

"A possibility…for later."

She hummed in confusion.

"You have asked me for answers, for me to unveil myself to you. A most daunting task." Ardyn clasped her hands in his, scoffing when the leather of his gloves denied him full contact.

He let go to eliminate the barrier, hesitating for a second to have his scarred flesh touch his unmarred companion's. She made the decision for him, rejoining their palms with no sign of nuisance.

The little display encouraged him.

"I feel…I know... I can show all that is me to you and not regret it. You would accept the darkest parts of me because your heart is so pure." Out of his control, acid tears threatened to fall. "I have broken your heart time after time and still…you love me with every broken piece."

His emotional turbulence knocked her off course. She moved closer.

"Ardyn…what is this?"

Did she dare think it? Could this be another dream made reality?

"I will give you the key and in exchange, I humbly ask...to forever be yours in marriage."

The princess forgot to breathe, getting lost in the orchestra of amber.

"Can it be?"

The stricken, hopeful question urged Ardyn to hug the moon to his eclipsed sun.

"You are my most beautiful fate. I want you and nothing else...just you, Dearest Musa."

Having her back sabotaged him. No, having her reincarnated at all devastated everything he planned and swore to follow. At the critical phase, Ardyn couldn't carry on.

How could he measure revenge against her? What good was an end if she wasn't there for a beginning?

Others would rage against throwing away decades of schemes, of denying poetic justice against the world. He'd lost everything once. That unbearable fissure in his soul would form a vortex from him making the wrong choice.

Their reunion and flourishing relationship gave Ardyn that glimpse at what he could have; a second chance! All that needed to be done was to reach out.

The red head was selfless the first spin. He suffered for it and from that learned. The chancellor would be selfish this time.

Damn the gods and their prophecy!

"To have you as my wife, there is no better blessing in this life."

Imperatrix wept.

"Are those of jubilation? Or rejection?" Ardyn inquired after a few minutes of holding his crying lover.

"Don't be absurd! I am most elated." She shouted into his chest. "I'm merely overwhelmed!"

He rejoiced, stooping to lay his head on hers. The distance was shorter than the previous lifetime.

The sage practically towered over Musa. When he hugged her, they could topple over from the uneven distribution. Now she could support his weight better.

"So you agree to let me be your husband?"

"Answer three questions and I do."

"Here we go."

Watch her pry for the most difficult subjects pertaining to his unfortunate lineage.

"What is born each night and dies each dawn?"

Ardyn tugged the princess off, gaping in disbelief.

"This should be effortless. Do not tell me you have forgotten our favorite opera?"

That wasn't why he lost his composure. How in the world did Imperatrix manage to task him with the same riddle and in the same context as Musa?!

To win his wife the first time, he solved her mother's riddles. The shah wanted Musa to marry some prince for the large bridal gift the boy offered but he was obligated to honor his late wife's stipulation and marry his daughter to a stranger from a far off land.

The match of destiny. Somehow their story became muddled over the centuries and some fool screwed up their history for money.

Lucky for them Turandot had its musical appeal.

Despite the atrocious insult to Musa in the opera, Ardyn watched it over and over, desperately seeking pieces of a forgotten love. Eventually, he strung Imperatrix along to the events.

Inevitably, she took to it as he did, though not quite understanding why.

This reincarnation gig was a trial on his mental health. He understood nothing of the mechanics. Someone should write a guidebook for all these mystical shenanigans.

"Hope is born each night and dies each dawn." The chancellor endeavored to not mix sadness into this happy moment, like the princess was so used to him doing.

"What flickers red and warm like a flame but is not fire?" Imperatrix was less excited with the second riddle.

"Blood."

"What is ice which gives you fire and which your fire freezes still more?"

Ardyn smiled fondly in spite of how disgruntled she got over two of the three quandaries.

They were in agreement on the female character's unflattering depiction.

"It is Janan. Janan."

Her original line of thought was consigned to oblivion at the unexpected use of her personal name. It fluttered in her belly as nicely as "Musa" did.

"We are married now, my Dearest."

Too much. Perfectly too much!

"What's this? Don't hide from me." The chancellor pulled at the princess wriggling from him.

"I must! I am too exultant and do not know what to do with myself!"

Her face was on fire and chemicals pumped through her veins.

Imperatrix managed to escape, breaking into a dash. She had to do something before her body burst.

"Don't do that! I can't chase you!" Ardyn cursed his misfortune.

His leg injury wouldn't permit him to frolic after his wife like he did in simpler times.

This activity would have to be Nyx's domain. He heard them playing in the halls enough that it left the chancellor sulky for being excluded on account of a crystal discarding him.

"That's right. I must be mindful." Imperatrix beamed. "Let's take a bath."

The best part of the resort would heal Ardyn's body.

"You have been dying to get me naked all day." He held out his arm.

"And?" She fit into his side, all smug satisfaction. "I like sharing myself with you."

Imperatrix was only human after all. These kinds of things were her weakness.

And they weren't bad at all.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"I like that it is not a fantasy anymore." Imperatrix sighed from fingers threading along her scalp, down her back and over her bottom.

Head on her arms and laying on the rim of the pool, the princess would have been on the verge of sleep were it not for the body so close to her side, reminding her acutely of the libido lying in wait. In between this thin line of daze and actuality, she was feeling bold.

"It never was. A part of me knew of this potential outcome."

Hence, why he gave the woman mixed signals so often. Ardyn struggled to reconcile his want of her with the awareness of his vileness. If he'd chosen differently, walked the original path, Imperatrix would have been lost to him. Nyx would've filled the princess's wound then.

That was the plan…let the glaive take care of her when the chancellor crossed the line. She deserved to be happy even if it wasn't with him and that was why he pushed her to consider someone else.

Prime example of Murphy's law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

"You made me wait a terribly long time." She roused herself from ennui, scowl more of a pout. "We could have been bound years ago."

"Good things come to those who wait."

Imperatrix pushed off the ledge, wading further to the middle. The depth of the pool left her head the only visible part of the princess.

"And you? Has your wait yielded a grand reward?"

Her stare was that of a siren's.

"The grandest." Ardyn declared huskily, sinking into the water.

The white haired swimmer surveyed her surroundings when there appeared to be no ripples from movement and no sign of him coming up. She gasped at being picked up, sticking to the chancellor at her change in position from drifting to sitting on a lap.

"Stop terrorizing me with these warps!"

Unlike the Lucians, Ardyn's teleportation made no sound or elaborate displays. The technique was the ultimate stealth tactic; flickering in the blink of an eye.

"Don't deny me my trump card."

"It's a cheat, I say!"

"How obtusely noble you are. Everybody cheats."

"Virtuousness is hard to come by in this age. I strive to maintain mine."

"You might have, had you stayed far from me."

She knew what that perilous smirk meant and placed her lips a breeze from his. "Did you enjoy plucking that bloom?"

"Beyond imaging." The chancellor hummed as there became no distance between their skin. "I was so _honored_ to be the one to _touch you_. To give you that first taste of _exquisite pleasure_."

"Have I waited long enough for you?" She yanked at red hair, a rebuke for denying her from attending to his persisting arousal during their bath. "I want to love you, kiss you, touch you. Make you moan—"

The room spun, or rather it left the realm of visual understanding for the princess. Confused, Imperatrix stayed motionless on the pool's edge.

Night sky and stars were the base of sense until a red sunset, honey spheres and a handsome effigy became the new cynosure.

"Kharabetam."

"Cheshmâtun ghashang mibine. Del be del rah dareh."

With that proclamation, the princess met the chancellor in a kiss that sealed a deal of consummation.

They sunk into the water.

"I am so glad I did not have to plead for you to conclude inside me." Imperatrix floated, in the happy medium. "I would have it this way always."

"You will, Dearest Wife."

"Yes…I am."

Names were so powerful and everlasting.

"We should retire." Ardyn appeared above her again.

His hair was long with moisture, face relaxed with contentment. This suited him better than those acid smiles.

"Carry me?"

He grinned wickedly. "Did I deliver?"

"Aye, you did. How I shall savor this memory."

Saying no more, Ardyn lifted the slack princess, carrying her to the changing room. He dried her and then himself, retrieving robes from his inventory for them to wear to bed.

The sequence of Imperatrix wringing her hair, braiding the semi-wet locks and simpering at him were all nostalgia and adorableness in a bundle. He fell into the routine of the princess combing his hair and commenting how she could envision him with a longer style.

Listening to her chirp animatedly over his shoulder with him leaning into her was a prelude to what domestic moments he could expect as her husband.

Once more…he could be her family.

"You will present a marriage contract to Father, yes?"

"First thing when we return to Gralea but maybe you should give him some notice."

"That will be an icebreaker, I suppose."

"Tomorrow, I'll show you something that will make things better." Ardyn knelt before the princess, relived his leg wasn't hurting anymore. "Now I want to take my wife to bed and hold her until she leaves me for dreams."

"Do not be silly, you will be in that realm as well."

"You had your chance to flee and squandered it." His disappointment was so minimal compared to his gratitude. "You are stuck with me now."

He was a horrid, selfish fiend.

"Marvelous. Your spot in my heart was all but guaranteed." Imperatrix caressed his cheek. "I merely waited for you to lay claim to it."

"Ohebbokee."

One path closed and one opened. Destiny could re-evaluate itself for all Ardyn cared.


	24. Chapter 24 (Nyx Mature AO3 Content)

Many people didn't like episode Ardyn it seems. I feel a little better about ignoring the DLC continuity and the novel, I'm not even going down that rabbit hole. I will stay blissfully uninterested in these choppy additions that only further confuse the fans.

People who leave detailed reviews on fanfiction are a gift to the world.

 **Mature Content on AO3**

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Why must you go as well? And so soon after asking to be mine?" Imperatrix clung to the man a step below her on the stairs, inhaling the cologne wafting from his scarf. "You torment me!"

Who could guess how long he would be gone? She couldn't bear it, didn't want to bear the parting.

"Come now, I don't like our separations either. If only you could freely travel the world with me." Ardyn nuzzled into her just as much, squeezing with an intensity of someone that might never know the embrace of another again. "This is what I get for loving a princess. Sweet agony."

After the conclusion of their sojourn to the resort, the chancellor drove them back, informing the princess of his departure. She sulked the entire trip, needling him for his next scheme. Checking on recon from his secretary would keep him busy the next few days.

The secret to improving Imperatrix's mood was showing off the inbox of messages with the emperor. That kept her busy enough to quit making that adorable look of misery that made Ardyn want to pepper her with kisses till she tittered, something he would've done were he not responsible for operating the vehicle.

Unfortunately, the bumpy road mandated both hands and he hadn't been able to indulge her.

"You still…meant it, yes? To be with me…in union?"

With great reluctance, Ardyn pried the princess off, giving her a most solemn regard. "I am already married to you, Musa. Yours in all the ways that matter: body, soul and mind. I intend for the entire nation to know this."

She regained her confidence, pressing once more for good measure. "Truly, truly?"

"Yes, yes." He squeezed at her nose, wriggling a little to mess with Imperatrix because as bothersome as the distrust could be, her sincerity in giving pieces of herself to him was endearing. "Didn't you vow to doubt me less, my dear?"

"I cannot help it. You play games with me too much." The nasally criticism changed into whines at the additional pressure on her nose. "Ardyn!"

"Musa!"

" _Ardyn_!" This time the yell was for the fall Imperatrix found herself in.

The chancellor caught her in a swirling sweep, loudly broadcasting his dissatisfaction for their diminishing time. "How I want to whisk you away!

"Do not be gone long from me." She touched their foreheads together, arms wrapping around the man's neck, content to be carried.

"I won't."

"And call me."

"I will but I miss the old days of writing letters and anticipating responses." Ardyn set the princess on her feet, smiling as he simply gazed upon her.

She blushed under this amorous appraisal.

"I have something for you."

"A ring?"

Some of the charisma left his countenance and the chancellor noticeably floundered, fiddling with his hat. "Did you…want one? I'm not supposed to give you one but I will, if that pleases you."

He wasn't supposed to propose to her either.

The right of marriage proposal belonged to the princesses, just as it would for princes. Iedolas laid that edict down early for his first daughter, wanting to circumvent the dozens of offers she received early in her youth.

The decree saved the emperor from numerous migraines for the many daughters he was blessed with.

None of the royal girls would be subjected to mongrels repetitively proposing for power and being put in the awkward situation of never-ending refusals.

Ardyn was required to wait for a marriage offer from Imperatrix. One was offered before and he rejected it. Therefore, the second had to be his responsibility.

Rings were out of the picture in these proposals since royal families in the empire where known for polygamy. For some rulers, they didn't have enough fingers for all their wedding rings.

Ah, harems, one of the few old customs to still be practiced in the modern age. Considerably smaller than what he witnessed two millennia ago.

"I jest, Darling." Imperatrix assured the nervous red head, flicking the fedora up to reveal more of Ardyn's face. "As much as I would love that, a ring is not practical in light of my combat expeditions."

"Now you're the one teasing for amusement." The chancellor pouted.

"Serves you right."

He tutted, spinning on his heel to walk towards his car. "I suppose my gift shall remain with me."

"No!" The princess rushed forward, winding her arms around Ardyn's middle and pulling to get him to a stop.

Sadly, underestimating this man's strength wouldn't be a lesson she learned. He all but dragged her with him from his long strides, laughter ringing in the hangar of Setzer.

"Stop already!"

"As Her Highness commands."

She straightened up after nearly tripping, shoving the fool when he beamed impishly. "For this nonsense, you must give full deference when presenting the gift."

"I am but a humble servant." Ardyn sunk to the ground, black coat billowing out behind him.

Imperatrix was struck with the idea of feathers spilling around him. Why could she envision wings upon his back?

"The Lord Chancellor presents unto the Imperial Crown Princess, a token of his deepest affections."

From his outstretched hand, dusts of crystals gathered. Shimmering violets, pinks and reds, a canopy that gave birth to a tube-like flower of vibrant vermilion.

Ardyn took it by the stem, offering the rare item to the woman of white clarity.

"I have heard stories of this flower. They say Ifrit made them for Shiva." She grasped the blossom most reverently. "Thank you, Darling Mine. I treasure this present."

"Were botany my area of expertise, I'd craft a bloom just for you, outshining any creation of the Astrals."

He missed his wife's magical exploits with floral magic.

She romanced him with bundles of flowers on the oddest occasions. There were many instances Ardyn awoke to being swamped in plants or tickled awake by them. He'd discover them in letters or books too. Receiving them along with a radiant smile from his wife, made him so ecstatic.

Every step of hers was followed with drifting petals and if Musa was barefoot, flowers would grow beneath her feet. That was how in tune with nature magic the princess was.

She became her magic.

"Alas, all I can do is acquire them. This Prairie-Fire is for you."

His walking, breathing garden was gone. Somnus took her from him.

"Pray you return to me before it withers."

"I shall try."

Imperatrix stood on her toes, being met in the middle by Ardyn bending to her height. They kissed tenderly.

"I have to go now. Don't make it harder."

She gave three more nips to his mouth in swift succession, abiding by her own impulse. He caved anyway, grabbing ahold of the princess's cheeks to meld their lips.

"Ardyn." Before Imperatrix could say another word, the man dematerialized from her embrace and she fell forward from the lack of support.

How dare he leave after making her most blissful! The villainy!

"Curse your warping!"

"Kiss Nyx for me." The chancellor teased over the hum of his car. "And do try to clear up the misunderstanding with _Cloud_. This _Nebula_ would never seduce the imperial princess after all."

He backed the car out of Setzer, off to torment a prince of destiny.

It wasn't until Vixen was no more than a blurry sight in the distance did Imperatrix shut the ramp. She sent a text to Nebula for him to take off.

The next stop was the kitchen. Her prairie-fire needed a vase to stay healthy.

" _This leaving brings the farewell cold, windy song. Yesterday has gone and we dare not talk about it. The lights have been extinguished by the fragrance of flowers, memories held in and then taken away to make rivers._ "

A trick might have played on her eyes but the princess could swear that singing to the plant enlivened it. The petals moved in harmony with the reoccurring tune she dreamt of.

In an extravagant room with miles of open, bountiful land and sky, she sung to someone. Sometimes it would be Ardyn, sometimes a figure that felt abundantly familiar and precious but would be forgotten upon waking.

These dreams were another life altogether. Why did she see them? What was her subconscious attempting to tell her?

" _The pear blossoms have fallen this year and one color is added again. With your simple, different color clothes, your tears cannot be seen. A thousand of words to say. To who can I say them when I turn back?_ "

Life had gotten so strange since coming to Lucis.

" _I've seen the thin snow dying into the heartless years. I've been waiting for you to arrive but you just left a message of don't forget. Why do the old dreams disappear so quickly like a flash in the pan?_ "

Imperatrix was fooling herself. As if a flower would dance for her. She was no one special.

The chancellor introducing his mystical origins now had her seeing magic everywhere when there was only the mundane to witness.

" _Time has passed and the surplus snow is left behind._ " The princess twisted the flower between her fingers, dazzled by the brilliant colors. "You do feel magical though. Is it from being contained in Ardyn's Armiger?"

The plant swayed at the brush of wind from the kitchen door opening.

"How does it even work? Can he hold anything in it, comparable to a storage?"

That would explain why the man never had luggage but always possessed the necessary supplies. Their relationship spanned years and yet she was re-learning her lover, re-living a process of courtship.

Was it possible to continuously fall in love with someone?

"Mysteries for a later day. For now, I intend to care for you." Imperatrix picked the vase up, nearly dropping it at the faint whisper she heard.

There was no one else in the kitchen with her and no disturbances. Why did she hear a cry for a mother?

"Now Nyx's nonsense is getting to me." She clutched the vase tight, heading for her room. "What are these men doing to me?"

The glaive sent Imperatrix messages inquiring about her health, stressing that she tell him if any signs of sickness popped up. He was still on the idea that their night took root, despite the extensive phone conversation they had about the different methods of contraceptives between their nations, which altogether led them on so many different tangents about culture shock.

There was no way for Imperatrix to be expecting after getting the shot in Lestallum.

Why wouldn't he believe her explanation? Thick-headed mule!

All his talk of a child burst open locked insecurities. For so long she feared never reaching that phase of life since Ardyn was so repelled by the notion of fatherhood.

Nyx was filling her head with unreasonable hopes.

Speaking of unreasonable hopes…it was time for Imperatrix to make the call.

"No fear, no fear." The mantra went on and on while the phone dialed, leaving the princess taunt as an arrow prepared to fly.

Staring at the flower vase propped on the desk kept the fidgety snowflake sane.

One ring, two rings, three rings…by the fourth her tension plummeted into Imperatrix's stomach as disappointment strong enough to cause nausea.

She wanted to vomit.

This one action had stressed her out too much. How had talking to her father reached such a low for her?

"Of course, he did not answer."

The phone blinked back to the background.

"But then…why did he text Ardyn so much if Father did not want to speak to me?"

The chancellor and emperor exchanged daily messages about her. During his time onboard Setzer, the red menace sent many pictures to Iedolas, some of them unflattering.

Her father made his amusement known in the chat bubbles, going so far as to use "lmao", text speak which the three heads of state —emperor, crown princess and chancellor— never used. The instigator for this breech of writing etiquette was a video Ardyn filmed, containing Imperatrix fleeing from insect enemies at Costelmark Tower.

She meant to punch the chancellor before he left. The thought escaped her mind throughout all the kissing and hugging.

Curses!

"Maybe… It is difficult for him as well…" Imperatrix pressed her knuckle to her cheek, side-eyeing the prairie-fire. "Some men cannot be straight-forward."

The misfortune lasted for five minutes before the phone sang. Frozen, the princess gawked in horror at the caller id.

"What do I do?!" She panicked, letting it go to two rings and then her mind took off in tactical-strategy mode.

The sickness was back!

At the third ring, more fearful of missing the opportunity, the princess choked down her ailment and answered. "H-Hel…Hello?"

" _Janan."_ Iedolas opened with an air of wonder. _"I could not believe my eyes when I saw it was you. I cancelled the Curia at once."_

"O-Oh…ahh…I…" She couldn't speak, immersed in the distant, detached manner they interacted at the eve of the Fall, immersed in the regretful, battle-weary voicemail left on her phone and immersed in this present of ambiguity.

All the memories were converging at once. Him boasting to Regis of her and his stricken face, the two opposites kept coming back.

Which father was he? The one that doted or the one that sacrificed?

Teetering…the princess was teetering. Relief…come unto her.

" _I want you to come home, Janan."_

Imperatrix squeaked at the reminder she was meant to participate in the conversation. Whatever Iedolas said in regard to the senators went right over her head.

And did he say what she thought?

" _For my ambitions I have sinned greatly. Despair like this…I have not known since Valeria passed."_ Old age cracked in the emperor's voice. _"No matter how I justify sacrificing my child, my soul is shredded. It is sufficient…my conquests have demanded enough."_

"You have the world at your feet now. That is easy to say."

He grunted. _"True. But I am sincere in my remorse. Allow your father to make amends."_

She sucked in a breath.

" _There is no apology I can give that will ever be adequate for all I have done to you. Still, I am sorry to have brought us to this."_

"You…you honestly mean it?" The question was that of a child seeking affection and Imperatrix inwardly chided herself for this weakness. "I can come home?"

Iedolas was the only parent she had left.

A part of her would always distinguish a way to forgive her father. This part was the most basic compulsion of human beings: the vital necessity for love.

All bowed before it, mortals, gods, creatures…and possibly even daemons, were all servants to the supremacy of eternal, ever-present love.

" _Yes, my child. Your family is waiting to see you walk through the doors."_

Home.

Lunafreya wanted to run from hers. Imperatrix wanted to run to hers and stay there. No more wars, no more fighting, an end to the struggle and a beginning to release of suffering.

Turn the face to the sun and the shadows would fall behind.

"Has it begun to snow?"

September was closing and with its curtain, the real winter would come. The Glacian's breath would ice Gralea. Sealed off sectors would loom terribly over the citizens, a reminder of those lost in the devastation.

" _Mercifully, no. That corpse will be the next thing we dispose of."_

"This Astral business…will it be the last of it all?"

Iedolas lost some momentum in his voice, the harshness of experience coming back in the wisp of his reply. _"You know what they have done. What they can do."_

She did.

Three-fourths of their continent was proof of the folly of angering a god. Eleven years later and they were still paying the price and probably would for centuries.

The Astrals were longevity and grudges. To them, the sufferings of minor, ephemeral humans meant nothing.

Only the chosen mattered.

Not a thought for the people in the cities, not one for the individuals worlds away from destiny.

" _Perhaps the old gods will return with their demise."_

Imperatrix let the phone slip from her ear, scrambling to reset it in place. "The old gods?!"

" _Yes…our pantheon. The denunciation of our noble roots has certainly brought calamity on the empire. The Six should have never been integrated into our culture."_

"Would people even remember them if you re-instituted the Twelve? The Astrals are all many people know."

She only knew of the Roman gods through stories and artwork. Who could say they even existed once upon a time?

" _Not after I pass an edict. All shall remember and homage shall be given to the true deities of our empire."_

"Was that the topic of the meeting?"

" _No…it was another matter…"_

His hesitance perturbed the princess but she didn't get a chance to address it as voices from her father's side brought their conversation to a close.

" _I must go. More business of state."_ Iedolas sighed. _"Seeing you walk through the doors cannot come soon enough."_

"Father…"

" _I love you, Janan, my child. That has not changed."_

She sniffed. "Thank you, Father."

If he was disgruntled that his proclamation didn't get a reciprocal one, he didn't let on when saying goodbye and ending the call.

The liberation of nerves and misgivings made Imperatrix shake, phone clattering to the desk as she dropped it.

She had to lay down for a while.

Storge could get the best of them because family was an everlasting string of fate.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Do I need to go down there? It's a capital offense to wound royalty." Nebula judged the forest warily, visualizing the ambush his liege intentionally walked into and then allowed the perpetrators to keep their heads.

"Stop it, Neb." Imperatrix chided, pushing the proffered gun back to the owner. "I do not need a weapon."

"Obviously, you do. We're in Galahd, not Gralea." The gunman swatted a fly away, missing the protection of his helmet. "You can't walk the streets unarmed."

"They will not attack me a second time. Especially not after I helped them defeat an Iron Giant. They are not the ungrateful sort."

"Fine. I'm not going to argue the point further." He clipped his gun in its place, whirling to go back into Setzer. "Call and I'll come."

Yeah right. Let her believe that while Nebula tailed her discretely.

These people wouldn't get a second chance. A bullet would eliminate any that dared harmed the princess.

He could do the ugly things she couldn't.

"The only saving I require is from Thea." Imperatrix mumbled once alone to navigate through the forest.

In a text, Nyx told her to follow the sound of water to locate his training ground. Vague but with how loud the sound was, she could understand why embellishment wasn't needed.

Anticipation grew with every step that crunched leaves and brought her closer to the destination. She'd worried nonstop about the glaive since dropping him off.

His condition was benign now. But how long would that status last?

In a moment, in a day, in years…there could be no warning for his decline and her heart would break.

"Nyx!" Imperatrix yelled at the figure swinging through stances against an imaginary foe.

She too did this in her spare stints from paperwork and government topics.

They both possessed similar habits for clearing the mind. Sparing one another proved to be more beneficial than stewing on vexations.

Just like the oracle, the glaive found himself under her tutelage, though there wasn't as much to teach the man. Merely breaking Nyx out of the habit of reaching for magic that wasn't there, was the extent of the lessons.

"Nyx Ulric!"

He couldn't hear her over the cascade of falling water and singing magitek. The princess hopped over the rocks to reach the square, calling for the man in revolutions of red sparks and arrows.

She identified the moment he heard her when Nyx tensed, slowly inspecting in her direction with an intensity that rooted Imperatrix to the spot.

Heat pooled in her despite the fall chill.

His lips moved with the formation of her name. Nyx thrusted his blades into the ground, gliding forward with purpose.

Dashing came so naturally to the princess that she began to believe an earlier observation of his: they chased one another.

"Impera." The glaive graduated to a stop, just short of crashing into the woman, puffing out cold breaths of air. "You came."

Second time she stepped into hostile territory for him.

"I had to. You are—"

Smothering her words with his lips, Nyx yanked a slimmer body into his, groaning from the fabric scratching at his bare chest. Already short from breath, he couldn't hold it for long but the glaive put everything into the kiss. He took pride in leaving the princess just as winded as himself.

Lapis fixated longingly onto topaz.

"Do you know how much I have thought of you? Whether or not you were sleeping, eating, or training?" Imperatrix rested her hands on Nyx's shoulders, gaze drifting to the dulled pink scars patterning his skin from temple to waist. "Whether you were sick… You took over."

"Such a mom." He carped dramatically. "Can't get away from those it seems."

"And whether you…" His jokes wouldn't get to her. She tackled other hurdles and claimed the ribbon, one more and the princess would be elated. "Missed me."

The hush would have distressed her if Nyx hadn't clashed their lips.

He'd been angry with Imperatrix for dumping him in Galahd, fearful that they'd leave him there to die out as some forgotten relic. That wasn't the way for a hero to go out.

Anger then migrated towards his mom after her initial breakdown at his news.

Thea blamed the princess for the cancer. In her opinion, all the empire technology and their heinous ways finally infected her boy.

How wrong. The very opposite was true.

She believed not a word of how the Ring of the Lucii gravelly injured him, disabling the glaive of all magic and inflicting a tumor in his head.

Skepticism got Libertus too since the king's magic never had such dire side-effects on the other soldiers. Pointing out how ragged Regis appeared at fifty from using the ring took some of the bite out of the guy.

The oaf ended up being the one to break the desolation in the Ulric household by doing what they all wanted to do but some were too proud, he bawled.

These days in his homeland were filled with frigidness and depression, not Nyx's favorite mood settings.

This right here though…was good one.

"Nyx!" Imperatrix couldn't get another word in with the glaive repeatedly kissing her, plunging the woman more and more into his arms for one more minute of these fleeting joys.

So lost in the moment, neither noticed how close one of them was to the edge.

The princess tripped on the rock, falling into the pool. Lucky for her, it was the shallow portion and landing on her bottom hadn't soaked the entirety of her clothes.

"Holy shit! Baby, I'm sorry!" The glaive stepped into the water, helping the drenched woman up and into his chest for body heat.

She controlled most of the consternation into a half-scowl, still a little high off the romance. "Never mind. I will change once on the ship."

"No way! You're not walking that far in dripping clothes. You wanna get sick?" He snatched up her hand, leading them to his training area. "Why aren't you wearing heavier clothes? It's cold."

Imperatrix came off as pretty in her Persian dress and some trousers.

"Did you dress up for me?"

"Partially." Smacking that smug grin off was so very tempting. "And you are no better. Prancing around with no shirt on, by a waterfall no less! Which of us is the real knave?"

"Still you. I worked up a sweat from training. You're the one being a walking temp."

Thin, wet clothes on an immaculate body, every leech's dream. Nyx kept the ogling to a minimum, rubbing his palm up her arm to warm the princess, who shockingly wasn't shivering.

"As we have established, I need not do much for drawing your eye. Unrestrained mutt."

"Man, I missed your degraded sense of flirting." Nyx stopped them by his pile of garments, immediately draping the coat over Imperatrix. "There you go, Baby."

"I would like that address to cease. You are more patronizing than affectionate with it." She slid her arms into larger sleeves, pleased more with the scent than the potential coziness of the jacket. "And it is crude."

"So high-maintenance." The glaive zipped the coat up, wishing it dwarfed her more instead of loosely fitting since they were close in height.

Any man would want to see their girl protectively bundled up in their clothes, looking small and cute…

Was that patronizing like she said? Whatever, it wasn't because he wasn't putting her down or anything.

"Why should I follow your order? I'm not yours to command."

"Because I bestowed the endearment of 'Hero' on you. Speaking sweeter to me is the least you can do."

"Yeah, yeah, you got it." Nyx pinched her cheek. "Want me to call you, _Honey_?"

She gave a small smile. "Better."

"Honey Bunny."

"Nooo, not that! I get plenty of jokes about my features blending in with the snow."

"Uh, what?" Nyx quit tugging at her cheek.

Imperatrix blinked at him. "Our rabbits are white as snow, just like my hair and apparel. That was…the reference you were making, yes?"

"Not at all."

"Then…why?"

Smirking secretly, the glaive chose not to elaborate as he put on his sweater and re-claimed his gear.

"Nyx, why?"

"Forget it."

"No, tell me!" She wouldn't put up with this mystery business from another man and not the open-book one.

"Doesn't matter."

Groaning, she badgered the glaive relentlessly as they hopped stones to reach land. Imperatrix received no enlightenment.

The princess was manhandled in the route of the village, eventually getting thrown over Nyx's shoulder after he wouldn't hear anymore of her arguments for returning to Setzer.

The glaive swore he felt something malicious skinning his backside during this task but it didn't come from his captive, who was more exasperated than aggrieved.

No…this was the pressure of the psycho.

Somewhere in the trees, Nebula had a gun trained on Nyx. He had to be; his instincts never led him astray.

Knowing how protective the gunman was of Imperatrix, there would be trouble if anything happened like last time.

People were chill -with the exception this mom- nothing should go down.

Nyx recently got off the village shit-list too with Libertus running his big mouth about his dying brother-in-arms to the whole place. Out of pity for him, nobody would start something.

"I believe I ought to stay outside." Imperatrix wouldn't take a step closer to the door, body angled to retreat.

"Oh, too good to drop a hello? Rude much?" He joked, slotting the key in for his house.

"I have manners! Who do you think I am?!" She slapped his arm. "But I distinctly recall the begrudging hospitality. It would be presumptuous to impose on your mother."

Nyx gave out one of his zoned-out frowns, gripping the coat to haul the princess inside once she was done whining. "Stop overthinking. You're with me, there's nothing to be worried about."

The house proved to be devoid of Thea. Imperatrix exhaled relief and her companion rolled his eyes.

They went upstairs towards the glaive's room, a place the princess stayed out of in the previous visit. She acted more of a backdrop or stayed outdoors to alleviate the matron of having an imperial in her vicinity in the last case of being inside the Ulric household.

The potential expose of Nyx's personal life thrilled and terrified her.

Everything on a swift silver platter with this one.

"What're you doing?" Nyx found himself pulling on the coat.

"Going to the room I was in before. I should not be in yours."

"Are you kidding me?" Some frustration built towards her tepidness. "We've had sex. Why are you acting like a baby now?"

She hushed him by covering the man's mouth, eyes darting around for sudden appearances. "Quiet! What if your mother heard?!"

The eye roll was so strong he might have gone blind.

"I do not want her to think poorly of me."

This craving for parental approval was nice but exasperating. They were adults, nobody but them could say crap about their relationship.

Seemed it was going to be follow-the-leader today, with Nyx hauling Imperatrix everywhere. She squirmed out of his grasp once inside his room.

"None of Selena's clothes will fit you. You'll have to deal with my sweats." He tossed the items, hitting the princess in chest since she was examining the space. "That glare is very hot. Go ahead and tell me how badly you want me."

She cursed him out in one of the many languages in her repertoire.

"Stuff it, Princess."

"Your collages are nice."

Thrown off, Nyx stubbed his finger when shutting the drawer.

"I could probably learn your whole life from this timeline."

The walls were adorned with photos in chronological order from his youth to adulthood, with miscellaneous items pinned about. Letters, clip outs, broken weapons and all kinds of objects from all over Lucis were mounted on the wall.

Whatever she wished to know was laid out for her to learn. A finger touch away.

So simple in comparison to Ardyn.

"What do you want to know?" He landed next to her on the bed, making Imperatrix tilt into him.

She peered directly at him, shyness gone and yearning still strong. "Do you care for me?"

"Well, damn. Get right to it." Nyx would've colored but he was so used to her knife-sharp questions that he shrugged, ego fortifying him from acting too obvious.

"I find you to be a brave, loyal, selfless man. More than worthy of being by my side."

And she destroyed that precaution in a second.

The glaive went slack jawed. A real-life princess confessed to him!

"You are also arrogant, reckless and wild, traits that as royalty, I cannot abide. But in these, you learn, becoming more deserving of a place beside me." Imperatrix touched the scarred side of Nyx's face. "I would have you commit to me."

He needed a minute…or thirty. After so long of back and forth, having a mutual affection suddenly expressed messed with his brain.

"I'm gonna take a shower and then we can discuss dating. Cause…I'm too blown right now."

Not to mention his clothes were sticking uncomfortably to him from the sweat. The princess had to be feeling terrible in her wet ones.

"Very well." She watched him go with some apprehension.

Like Ardyn, he ran at the possibility of good fortune, afraid of its rewards. Imperatrix trusted it wouldn't be as much of an upstream battle as it was with her first consort.

She might not have years with Nyx.

"Impera."

The princess elevated her head, mouth opening in question but was blanketed by a rougher one. Her misguidance allowed Nyx's tongue to surge in, seeking a companion. She responded unwaveringly and without realizing it, ended up laying on the bed with him molding into her.

As good as it felt, their attire issues became apparent from the glaive shivering in the middle of their session.

"You will catch a cold. Take your shower." Imperatrix gently pushed him off.

"If you hadn't made that face, I wouldn't have gotten distracted." Nyx plucked up a new outfit, stepping out since a sniffle tickled his nose.

He didn't need a cold on top of cancer.

With his exit, the princess was free to roam the bedroom after changing out of her soaked kaftan and into the gym wear.

In a daze, she moved about, senses assailed with the essence of Nyx. Her eyes saw remnants of him everywhere, her nose smelt his forest scent and her lips still tasted his kisses.

Imperatrix played with the beaded strings on the desk, imagining this was where he constructed hers and Lunafreya's gifts. The man was in the middle of something new from the tools laid out.

Jewelry-making, what a cute tradition of his.

"Nyx!"

The loud bark made her jump. She recognized it as Thea's voice and doom loomed in her belly.

The Ulric matron didn't like her and that made Imperatrix anxious in respect to the glaive. The mother wouldn't approve of her Galahdian son in a relationship with an imperial foreigner.

Gods, this was a tacky screenplay of a teenager caught fooling around in their boyfriend's room, except Nyx was absent. Why must she be put through this trial?!

Imperatrix didn't expect this kind of impediment in her future, considering the family she hailed from. The wooing of a princess would have any family in the empire jumping for joy. Yet, this factor of lineage worked against her in this case.

"Nyx, I hear the floors creaking from your footsteps. Why aren't you answering me?!"

She freaked out, illogically wanting to blend into the wall. Upbringing as royalty compelled Imperatrix into a composed stance of greeting as the door flew open and Thea flew in.

Two woman stared.

The princess noted how much older the mother appeared from their last visit. Dark hair had gone grey and in spite of the rising ire on Thea's face, she'd lost a lot of vitality, as if drained of the string of bad luck.

Who could blame her?

For a moment, Imperatrix wondered if she too appeared different. Her apathetic disposition was no more.

"Why are you here?"

There was so much venom present that the princess stumbled for words. The personal connection with Nyx was making communicating a thousand times worse!

"Haven't you caused enough trouble for us?! I already repaid my debt by letting you stay before." Thea stepped closer, ready to drag the white-haired demon out. "There's no reason for you to be here so get out!"

How much did her family have to suffer at the hands of these Niffs?! Her son, the only one left, was dying because of them.

In the face of condemnation, Imperatrix stayed mute. A slew of malicious ranting was hers to bear.

These were the words of a concerned mother. She couldn't be expected to act any differently…but the things said still hurt.

Never…

Never would she have intentionally caused Nyx's cancer!

How was anyone but a Caelum to know how the Ring of Lucis operated?! Maybe they shouldn't have written off the blood price so quickly.

Stripping the glaive of magic hadn't been adequate payment. That was a mistake on her part in interpretation.

She was also at fault for not having more authority in international affairs, having more of a hand in the government. Averting her eyes didn't solve the empire's difficulties.

For the future prosperity of her country, taking on the full responsibilities of a princess and future empress, would be Imperatrix's reparation to the lost lives of Insomnia. She would strive to improve Niflheim, exiting from their conquering roots.

A lifetime repayment was owed to those people, to King Regis and to Prince Noctis. Frankly…they owed too many and the weight terrified her.

The crown was heavy.

Falter, fall, and fail…but she could never give up.

"Don't you have anything to say?! You monsters destroy everything!" Thea finished her rant, red in the face from how worked up she'd gotten from how pathetic this girl could look.

Her neck was a second from being wrung.

"What's she got to say? The cancer isn't her fault!" Nyx butted into the argument —more like verbal evisceration— planting himself in front of Imperatrix to stare down his mom. "How could you say all that her?!"

She struck him on the cheek, blow resounding in the interval. "Who do you think you're talking to?! Just cause you're bigger than me doesn't mean I won't tan you!"

"The mom I know wouldn't be so hateful to anyone." Chastened, he rubbed his throbbing face.

"Have you forgotten who she is? Think with your head boy!" Thea popped him on the arm next. "Or at least pick the blonde one!"

"I'm not that shallow." Nyx growled, trying really hard not to raise his voice but her blatant attacks on his character were cutting deep.

He hated being on the receiving end of her outbursts.

"You're a male like any other, doing dumb things for a pretty face. And I'm not going to let you kill yourself for a dirty Niff!"

"Stop talking about her like that! I told you, she saved my life and helped me!"

"Lower your tone! I'm not going tell you again!"

"Stop being ridiculous then! Impera didn't magically give me cancer and screaming at her isn't going to make it go away."

"You've lost your mind, talking to me like this." Thea glowered at the princess before striking her son, re-starting the whole dispute.

Imperatrix removed herself from the house to abate some of the enmity. Her ears rung with the accusations as she wandered the town.

Nothing had changed.

Stores appeared the same and people went about their chores the same. The provincial life of commoners.

There were always festivals and events going on in Gralea, opportunities to uplift the spirits of the people in the face of challenging living conditions in snow.

Where Galahd was a nature scene, free from industrial influence and a sleepy trance of peaceful tedium, Gralea was a mixture of technological advances and traditional structures, caught in a transition of old and new that kept the city on the edge of activity.

This was not her world.

"What're you doing here?"

The second time her presence was questioned included less malice. Considering who the inquiry came from, the civility was a surprise.

"Ah, hello, Ander."

"Yup, it's you. I recognize that prissy accent." The boy eyed the hoodie she'd pulled up over her hair. "Should've done the incognito thing the first time you were here."

She snorted at his pointed reminder of the village's failure to kill her in the forest. "I doubt that would have saved me from an arrow to the back."

Teenagers, snarky little brats.

"Maybe. Guess we'll never know." Ander shrugged, wiping some dirt off his face.

"How is your bother, Hanh?"

"Still a wimp." He pointed over his shoulder at the figure half-hidden behind the wall of a store. "He saw you but didn't have the guts for a confrontation."

The younger sibling fully hid himself at the princess glancing in his direction.

"It is good to see you both in fine health." She observed after Ander enforced his brother to join them.

Both boys were in the stage of growth spurts, being taller than she remembered and meatier in build. Most notable were the new tattoos on their faces.

Ander impressed fierceness with his dour expression and warrior marks while Hanh looked unassuming with subtle markings for a smith.

"You know about Nyx? I-It sucks." The younger boy managed to stutter less than usual.

She nodded.

"He's the last decent hunter we got on the island. Who's supposed to mentor me if he kicks the bucket?" Ander scoffed. "Libertus is shit without magic. No wonder he had to be saved by Nyx so many times."

"Y-You shouldn't insult him. H-He a-agreed to teach you in the end."

"Don't remind me."

"Does everyone know about him?" Imperatrix inquired.

"Thanks to my teacher being a blubber mouth over drinks, yeah."

The whole Ulric family had been under scrutiny then. No wonder Thea snapped at her.

"This is weird. You look like a girl now." Ander droned snidely, jerking from his brother's nervous pulling on his shirt.

"Y-You c-can't say that!"

To link with Hanh's scolding, the elder grunted in pain and covered his forehead.

"What the hell?!" He reeled around. "Who did that?! What was it that hit me?!"

"What're you talking about? There's nobody near." Hanh saw nothing out of the ordinary with the shopkeepers minding their business.

"Don't make it seem like I'm crazy! Somebody hit me in the face!" The elder boy turned his flaring nostrils on the princess. "It was you!"

"I did nothing." She refuted tiredly.

At the next curse to leave his mouth, Ander seized in pain from an unseen, small impact. Each of his defamations were followed up with him doing an odd dance from the invisible attacks.

Imperatrix and Hanh didn't know what to do or what was going on.

"You're doing this with Niff technology!"

"I am doing nothing." Raising her empty palms proved nothing to the boy.

"Maybe…you worked too hard. I can finish the orders." The younger boy rubbed his neck, getting black dust over the skin. "Thanks for helping, Ander."

"Shut up! It's not me, it's her!"

Other people were beginning to linger, shuffling closer to the commotion.

"Ander, stop! W-We don't want trouble. Nyx'll get mad." Hanh maneuvered his brother away, waving goodbye to the princess.

Loudmouth gone and the curious folks dispersed, Imperatrix was alone once more. A spark of light catching her attention prevented another mind drift.

She kneeled to the ground.

"Nebula." The princess sighed, rolling the marble between her fingers.

Up above, there was no sign of the gunman. He had to be somewhere on top of the buildings.

"At least he used marbles and not the pain-darts."

Pleading with him to stop using violent means as a solution led to the man using odd things in place of bullets.

"Impera, they're you ar— argh!" Nyx yelped as his foot lost traction with the ground and he fell.

She laughed harder than was appropriate.

"What… Why are there marbles everywhere?!" The glaive threw some in a random direction. "Nebula, you asshole!"

The display was rewarded with him getting pelted. The one responsible then stepped into the open, indifferently juggling the luminous balls in his hand.

"I thought I was being nice. They're not bullets, no one died." He stopped in front of the glaive. "They were culprits in the attack on the princess. How could I not be vengeful?"

Nyx clamped his mouth shut, noticing the pressure of deathly indignation behind the mask. "Are you ever going to take that off? It's been months, buddy. Is the thing an actual part of your head?"

"You already know how I look."

"Oh, a creepy, albino zombie? You would stand out." He slapped the gunman on the arm. "Better not chance that here. People are super superstitious."

"Is that what you call it? I'd call it _being backwards_." Nebula propelled him off, approaching the princess. "We should go back to the ship."

Imperatrix's gaze shifted from Nyx to her retainer and she dipped her head in acknowledgement. The glaive ran in front of the duo.

"You're gonna leave like that?"

"I have no reason to be here." Imperatrix responded.

His expression of hurt was too much.

"I told you what has transpired and what we plan to do. The choice to stay or leave is up to you." She kicked a marble in her path. "We leave in the morning."

Again, the glaive blocked them.

"Don't jet so soon. Come over to Hypnosis."

"That offer might have worked if Tempy were here." Nebula went around the man.

"I do not feel up to drinking."

The princess's rejection was the real bother to Nyx. He wouldn't take it to heart since she was probably disgruntled from his mom and he knew how the woman felt from her confession.

"Sorry but I'm not taking no for an answer." He ran after them, seizing Imperatrix's hand to include her in his run.

"Nyx!"

"Keep up, Princess!"

"As if I would lose to you!"

Goaded on, she sprinted up to the glaive's side, bumping the man for his idiotic face of triumph. In the midst of their game, Hypnosis glowed in the daylight.

"Here we are, in spite of my words." Imperatrix scuffed up dirt.

"Admit it, you can't help yourself with me." Nyx strung an arm over her shoulders. "It's cool. Feel free to be madly in love with me."

"You forget yourself, rogue!" She pushed him, the impact of her hands hitting his chest reminiscent of the strong pound of hers.

The princess liked him alright…loved might be a stretch.

"How? Did I mishear you earlier?"

"No, you misunderstood and replaced it with your own notion. Something you constantly do!"

Nyx backed her into the wall. "I wanted to respond properly to you, not give some crappy acknowledgement after you blindsided me."

Imperatrix could hear everything, the whistle of wind, the crinkle of leaves, the scrap of brick and most clearly, most serenely, the glaive's voice.

"There's so much strife associated with you and I've never invested this much effort in getting a girl's attention." He leaned closer. "None of that discourages me because I want a chance with you, Impera."

She didn't have words in any language. Just as he gravitated to kiss her, the door to the bar cracked open, a nosy Libertus peeking over the rim.

Nyx inclined his head marginally, glaring dangerously at his friend that would be deceased soon from eavesdropping on a private moment and then having the gall to flaunt it.

"I was gonna make fun of you but what you said was killer. You've grown up, man!" The ex-glaive was a messy mix of laughing and crying.

Mood over, Nyx got off the princess. "Why are you drunk, it's still daylight hours? What's the deal?!"

"You! You're my deal!" Libertus swung off balance, holding onto the door for support. "I can't outlive you; it isn't right."

Understanding made him take the bottle and urge his friend inside. His family was all over the place.

"Are you coming inside?"

Nyx craned his head back at Imperatrix's question, wondering who she was speaking to. He jumped when Nebula dropped from the sky.

"Might as well."

"Got damn, peepers!" The glaive groused, locking the door once the imperials were inside.

The one time he played the romantic approach and it failed. His shit luck in past relationships had to be carrying over.

The ghosts of girlfriend's past were screwing him over, massively.

Didn't being terminal earn him some brownie points with the world? Somebody give him a break.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Seeing you like this, it's nice." Nyx dried off the dish, setting it in the rack once done and picking up another that Imperatrix cleaned.

They'd completely misused the bear by not consuming any alcohol. Instead, he and Libertus bickered over what movies to watch on the old tv.

They compromised on an action flick, accompanied by snacks.

The oaf sobered up swift at Nebula's presence, getting somewhat defensive at the addition of another imperial, particularly a weird one in a mask and trendy biker-wear. The attitude didn't last long on account of the respect he had for the princess.

By the half-point of the film, Libertus was joking with the gunman like he was any other patron.

Things were amiable as the group went through video tapes from morning to afternoon, where they broke for lunch.

Nebula prepared the meal since Libertus, the establishment's cook, wasn't up to task. He astonished the Galahdians by presenting a dish that while a tad varied, was still a native spread of their home.

That was a surefire way to win over Libertus and Nyx found a new respect for the gunman but wondered why he never did that before for him. The guy made meals according to the Fleuret's French taste, Imperatrix's Persian tastes and Tempesta's Gralean appetite.

The glaive wasn't letting this go in the future. He would see some Galahdian dishes on their menu.

"You wearing my clothes is making the domestic view all the better."

"How strange. Were our roles reversed, I would not say the same." Imperatrix shut off the water.

Nyx flicked the wet towel at her.

She gasped. "You already got me wet once!"

"I sure did. Wanna do it again?"

The princess let out a muffled screech at his lascivious once-over. "Not at all what I meant!"

"Come on, it's been like three weeks since we had sex and not once have you invited me to your room. Where's the love?"

"There you go…generating your own ideology." She muttered mutinously for the blood rushing to her skin. "Where were you the first time?"

"Huh?"

"When I woke, you were absent."

Nyx lost all bravado, grabbing her by the arms. "Impera, I swear by the moon it wasn't like that! I'm not that guy… With you…"

Shame for his callous routines with previous women swamped him. He could finally comprehend how disappointing and painful being left with an empty bed could be from the distraught blue eyes judging the glaive.

He didn't enjoy seeing her hurt, nor being the cause of the emergence of the kicked-dog face.

In reality, Nyx was the lovesick one.

Being stuck on the island, rammed back into his boring, old life proved his overlooked predicament. None of his old habits and hangouts could entertain the glaive.

Nyx had sat in the cave where Libertus, Selena and he used to draw on the walls, thinking about the color white, the smell of perfume, the sound of Latin and the feel of softness among battle scars. Through all that, an abstract scribble of Imperatrix made it on the trio's sacred cave-wall.

"Explain." The princess ordered, refusing to be baited into complacency by charm.

Ardyn picked her up early in morning and noticed no sign of the man. How could it be a misunderstanding?

Nyx left and she wanted to know why.

"I went to the pharmacy to get you an After Pill. When I came back _you_ were gone." The glaive had the audacity to get in her face. "So, who left who?"

"After…Pill? What is that?"

"Oh, my god! I can't even with you!"

Imperatrix waited for him to get over his melodrama.

"What's up with contraceptives in Niflheim? Why don't you know these things?!" Nyx threw up his hands. "Matter of fact, what the hell is wrong with Cloud?! Honey, what're you letting him do to you?"

"N-Nyx!" She struggled to stop him shaking her in his building frenzy.

"Is he pressuring you? Cause this is messed up and risky as hell for you! Do I need to beat the shit out of him?!"

"Nyx, stop."

"I hated the guy from the start! _Please_ say yes. I so wanna take him out!"

"Stop!" Wrenching out of the hold, Imperatrix fell onto the counter, dizziness blurring the room. "Just stop!"

The glaive sat on the ground in a stupor.

"This is all sheer bullshit! Can you accept a truth other than your own?! Everything right in your head is wrong!" She wheezed, siphoned of energy.

"Okay, okay." Nyx didn't touch her at signs of the princess veering away, rather his hands hovered nearby to support her if she got faint. "Don't get worked up, it's not good."

"Now you lecture me on etiquette."

"That's not…just sit down, okay?" He smiled weakly, imploringly. "Please, Honey? For me?"

The plea worked.

Nyx breathed easily at Imperatrix sitting at the table, resting her head in her palm. He tentatively pulled a chair close to her, perching on it backwards, chin sustained on the top.

No complaints of sickness yet but she might not have noticed. Or it could be too soon. A busybody princess like Imperatrix wouldn't notice these things.

"Want some tea?"

The bar actually didn't have any stock but Nyx bought some packets from the store in preparation.

The owners wouldn't quit probing for details on why someone like him wanted tea. Coincidentally, they attributed it to his sickness and not a pining idiot buying stuff for a woman.

"We are in a bar and not once have you offered me alcohol. A glass would be appreciated."

"I can't give you any." Nyx pulled off the hairband, freeing up white hair and stroked Imperatrix's head in apology. "Anything else, I'll do."

"How insufferable." The princess hummed at the motions, headache receding. "I should have gone with Nebula."

"Impera."

The seriousness of his tone, unlike the fevered tirade of before, earned an impatient demand of clarification in her face.

"I wanted to get the After Pill for you because we had unprotected sex. Store didn't have it though."

It took every bit of remembrance of their adventures for Imperatrix not to flee out of her seat or strike blows upon the man for his intended outcome. "You would have poisoned me?"

She'd seen botched abortion attempts among ladies of the court. Those concoctions could go terribly wrong.

Ardyn hadn't even suggested the princess take preventive measures when she actively endeavored to get pregnant from their coupling. He feared children like nothing else but didn't want to harm her in the end.

Weeks of her belly remaining empty relieved the chancellor but it devastated Imperatrix.

"What the fuck?! No! That pill isn't lethal! Plenty of women use it with no harmful effects." Nyx almost broke the chair in springing from it. "Fuck, you're making me angry and I don't want to be! Is that who I am to you?!"

The princess was more focused on the overturned chair, scooting to the limits of her seat at the glaive kneeling in front of her. There was no escape, he trapped her to it with his arms and swirling eyes.

"Don't you know I would never hurt you like that?! Don't compare me to those dicks that poisoned you!"

"Nyx, I'm—"

"I genuinely care about you. Don't ever accuse me of the opposite."

His lips begged her to believe him, moving so passionately that they fell to the floor in a jumble, mingling bodies without a thought. She wanted to protest being on the uncomfortable, dirty floor but it was difficult when Imperatrix could hardly breathe, acutely preoccupied with matching Nyx kiss for kiss.

Sensations overpowered thoughts.

He recalled where they were from kicking over the table, the loud noise halting two instances of lusts. The glaive got up, dismissing the mess in favor of holding out a hand for the princess.

"Wanna go upstairs?" He suggested once she was standing and still holding onto him.

"Lock the door." Imperatrix's twirl from him for the doorway filled Nyx's nostrils with her hair products.

It took a minute for the man to get on the mission of securing the bar. The next one included chasing his women through the hall, up the stairs and into the spare room scarcely furnished with a bed and window.

Imperatrix stood out in the dark space, snowy hair spilling out and weaving around her upper body. She traced the scarring on Nyx's temple.

"Is that the reason you're taking an interest now?"

"I did not know of your condition when I laid with you." Her thumb pushed on the furrow between his brows, loosening it with a simple touch. "I will admit…knowing of it now has made my reluctance seem silly. Fighting with you for control is wasteful of our time."

Considering how much the cancer would take from him, the glaive would be desperate for a sense of control in some aspect of his life. If she could give Nyx that bit of structure, then the princess would surrender the role of courter.

"You make me furious and then you make me happy. It's this craziness that drives guys mad." He shook his head, grinning anyway. "But the hero always goes for the princess. Who am I to screw up a classic tale?"

Her mocking smile guaranteed an insult but Imperatrix's words stayed hidden. Nyx picked the woman up at her arms opening in invitation, carrying her to the bed.

The princess and the glaive, a common trope but still one worth playing out.

Minutes passed with them coiled together in laziness.

The princess nudged her half-asleep lover. "Crack the window."

"No way, it's chilly outside."

"It's stuffy and potent in here." She practically whined, swiping her messy hair back. "Open it, please?"

"You're hot and I'm attracted to you but it's too far."

"It's in reaching distance."

"You do it since you're on top of me and closer."

"Unchivalrous knave." Imperatrix rolled off him to open the window.

"Aww, Honey Bunny." Nyx snaked his arms around her once she finished and didn't return. "Don't fume."

She grappled with him, tripping onto the bed. He laughed, sheltering them under the blanket with the breeze coming in.

"Stop that condescension."

"But you're so cute when pissed off, Baby."

"Stop it!"

"Alright, alright, Princess! Quit hitting the sick patient." Nyx groaned huskily at having her warm skin on him. "Lower your voice and take a nap with me."

"You won't redress?" Imperatrix held the man experiencing little shivers at the drop in temperature.

"I'm exhausted. What we did was the model of "fucked senseless"."

"Decease using that term. It is highly inelegant and utterly inaccurate."

Nyx hooked his chin over the princess's shoulder, mouth on her cheek in a rare show of chasteness. "Then you made love to me…which _proves my point_."

A disagreement wouldn't voice itself. In a quiet admission, Imperatrix twisted to give the glaive a lasting kiss.

Haste made waste but in his case it might not.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"How's…Lunafreya?" Libertus threw a bone out, hoping someone would pick it up and end the unbearable air of murder circulating around Thea and the antagonistic equanimity of Nyx.

Him and the imperial princess were the ones dying at the dinner.

They were desperate to escape but two Ulrics forcibly kept them at the table. Thea's iron grip yanked the ex-glaive down whenever he got up with excuse and Nyx continued sliding Imperatrix's chair closer to his whenever she scooted away at the spike of a temper.

Nebula was the lucky one, perched on the roof with food snuck out to him earlier. Libertus would give anything to be in his spot right now.

Being a surrogate son and brother could be rough.

"Kid's fine, actually starting to become a warrior on her own." The glaive provided when Imperatrix didn't.

She'd relegated herself to nibbling at her food, eyes cast down.

Since stepping inside on his insistence, the princess spoke only when absolutely necessary and made herself scarce to the point of invisibility. Here she was, making him feel like a dick for the umpteenth time.

But dammit! Hiding from his mom wouldn't help. Imperatrix had to suck it up and face Thea.

She didn't have to do it alone though.

"Luna didn't wanna stop by?"

"Her brother picked her up."

Libertus scratched his head for a second. "She's got a brother?"

"Dude, yes! The guy's the high commander now."

"Wait, really? I never heard of this guy and he's replaced Drautos?"

The mention of Titus got a reaction of Imperatrix in her spoon scraping against the plate.

"Don't worry, Ravus is just as crabby."

The ex-glaive laughed. "He must be a softie since you don't look worse for wear. I died every day with the captain."

"You were late every day! You deserved those laps."

"Hop off! It's not my fault I could never sleep with all that city racket." Libertus's chair squeaked as he scooted back to annunciate his tale with hand gestures. "There were _always_ trains and cars being loud as hell! And don't get me started on those goddam sirens going off for _every little emergency_!"

"Something went down every hour in Insomnia. Place really is the city that never sleeps."

"Slept." Thea intoned in the middle of their conversation, repeating the statement when the boys gave her their attention. "Insomnia _used to be_ the city that never slept."

The soft expression vanished from Imperatrix's face and the mood went sour after the well-needed breath of fresh air. Libertus exhaled loudly, at a loss for how to remedy the situation.

"Mom, it's in the past."

"No, it's not. It's there, across the sea. A ruin." She growled. "By her, _by them_!"

Nyx rubbed his forehead for patience, sticking to the real dilemma. " _Impera didn't give me cancer_ , it just happened. There's nothing more to it and nobody for you to blame. _Let it go_."

" _Let it go_?! How can I accept being the last Ulric?!" The table almost overturned from how snappishly Thea rose, gesturing to the space outside the dining area. "This house used to be full and now it's losing its last member. You're supposed to take over once I'm gone!"

"Ma—"

"How is it fair that we'll all be gone?! An entire generation wiped from existence."

Libertus and Imperatrix were uncomfortable, melting into their seats as the elder let out a scream of utmost aggravation.

Thea stormed out.

Three people sat in stillness for a minute, waiting for something to happen or someone to speak.

The princess reached under the table to squeeze Nyx's hand. "You should go to her."

"What can I say?"

"Nothing. But you can hold her. Sometimes that is all one needs."

He showed her a crooked grin, playfully batting his knuckle at her chin before going after his mom.

Down to Libertus and Imperatrix now.

"So, you and Nyx?" He prompted while she collected the dishes, handling the cleanup.

The princess held the plates protectively to her chest, awaiting the disapproval.

"Don't hurt him."

"That is…all you would say to me?"

"Nothing else matters and he's stubborn. What's the point of being against you two?" Libertus got up, helping Imperatrix. "You're just the right amount of discord for Nyx. He loves your type."

"Is that right?"

She understood he had a past from the cavalier way the glaive behaved. Not to mention his allure and status would have certainly led to many admirers.

To hold any of those dalliances against Nyx would be unjustified —Ardyn was hers for years— but the knowledge did make her uneasy, a smidgeon self-conscious in fact.

"Let me tell you, Thea kicked Nyx out of the house a few instances because he wouldn't stop messing with the girls in town. He stayed with me or at the bar till she cooled down." Libertus coughed in the middle of these retributions, covering up an ugly-sounding snort. "He got into more trouble when we joined the Kingsglaive. Drautos constantly tore into him about good behavior outside of work. And this guy has the nerve to make fun of me?"

Imperatrix huffed while cleaning, drying the dishes a little too gruffly, that high-pitched noises were generated.

"Wait…dang it! I shouldn't be telling you this, huh?" Libertus paled at how flustered the princess was, deflating once he realized why his mouth ran. "I got…it was like talking to Crowe for a second. We bitched about Nyx all the time but we loved the punk anyway."

"Crowe Atlius… Your friend that was killed?"

Nyx spoke of her often as a great mage that always had his back in battle.

"Yeah…I loved that girl too."

Imperatrix reached for his hand, taking it when Libertus displayed no trepidation. A smile of sympathy was all she could impart.

"You're tomboyish. Guess the familiarity tricked me."

"I am not!"

He balked at the affronted air to the princess. "Uh, yeah you are."

"No. I do not appear a boy anymore!"

"You do in Nyx's clothes." The ex-glaive went on at the sounds of disagreement bubbling out of Imperatrix. "You fight and have the air of a dude. I bet you play sports too. That's all a tomboy."

She stewed on all of that.

So, dress choice wouldn't completely solve her identity crisis? But changing many of those qualities was out of the question!

To fight was to survive. Respect could only be attained when she was ten times more fortified than a man. Sports…well that played into maintaining an aspect of power and authority.

A young, able-bodied heir not participating in the Olympic Games? Preposterous!

Nor could the commander and her legion lose in inter murals. The world demanded she be powerful.

"Hey, keep it down. I got Ma to go bed." Nyx re-entered the kitchen, taken back that everything was cleaned. "What'd you do, Lib?"

He would've thanked his girl if she wasn't scowling and wringing a towel.

"Eh, man? What happened to bros before…" The ex-glaive stopped himself, realizing how rude that would have come off. "She got defensive about being called a tomboy."

"Stop saying that!"

Nyx chuckled. "She does that. You should've seen her when I snipped off some of her hair by accident."

"It was not an accident." Imperatrix amended.

Ramuh's spell influenced him but the glaive had control of himself.

"Any girl would kill you for that."

"What?! Do you know the world we live in? Losing some hair is nothing!"

"Why'd you whine to me about yours then?"

"Lib, it's not the same and stay on my side."

"I am but you've got a bad case of _foot in the mouth_."

The males continued to overlook the princess for their conversation. During which, they eventually returned to belittling Imperatrix. Everyone loved to pick on her and two against one didn't allow her to get words in.

She exclaimed a huff and exited when Nyx got into describing how much of a crybaby the princess was.

Nebula would be better company.

"So…you and the imperial princess?" Libertus started up once more now that it was a guy zone, sportive smirk stretching his face. "How's that? She better than the neglected housewives?"

Nyx groaned, covering his face and wishing he could time-travel to un-sleazify himself. "Dude, you better not have told Impera about any of that."

She already thought of him as a dog, knowing the indecent tidbits of his past would lower his label to flea. He wanted to put all that misguided foolery behind him.

The glaive would honor his lesson from Titus's fight. No more sob parties and dwelling on the past.

What was it Imperatrix told him on that day he won one of their sparring matches?

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." Nyx mumbled to himself.

Smart cookie that one. She thrashed him in the next fight and many afterwards. He'd met his match -maybe even his better— in the Princess.

"What was that?" Libertus asked.

"Nothing. Did you tell her?"

"Not…really…"

"Lib, I'm gonna punch your face in."

"Don't do that! I'm finally back at one-hundred percent."

"Then don't share my history with my girlfriend!" Nyx smacked him on the arm but the effect was lost from the ex-glaive bouncing with energy. "What?"

"You said it. I can't believe you said it!" He clacked his teeth together to not guffaw. "The Great Nyx Ulric is sprung! Never thought I'd see the day."

"Lower you voice!" The glaive pushed his friend. "And quit laughing!"

"I can't! You've never used the term _girlfriend_ before." Libertus did the opposite, going pink from how much he laughed and Nyx wrestled him for it. "The puppy has grown."

"I'm going to kill you."

They scuffled into the living room; two idiotic men reduced to children in their bickering. They both missed this kind of nonsense.

Outside, on the roof, princess and retainer were laid out, applauding the stars.

"This place is peaceful."

Even the daemons a distance away in the forest were restful in comparison to others. His was just as placid, calmed by the effervescent moon.

A howl was in Nebula's soul.

"Gralea shares this atmosphere only at night." Imperatrix spun her head towards the mask. "Does the sky remind you of Aranea?"

The arm underneath her head twitched. "Yes. She'd live up there if she could."

Once the commodore could afford her own airship, the silver-haired woman would never step foot on land. A modern-day air pirate.

Could he stand living up there as well? It would be a new form of dissociation with the world.

"The lofty heavens does have its attraction. Everything is small and inconsequential from up there."

"Maybe." He gripped his gun. "But grievances can still follow, even above…most definitively above."

Everyone had their gripes with life. The Astrals weren't immune to this fabric of the universe.

"My Darling Neb is so pessimistic."

" _Nebula_ was the optimistic one." The gunman patted the princess's head, not noticing the wincing she did from the action. "I suspect we had different breeds of canines and that played a part in dispositions."

"You all know what type is put in?"

"If we want to. I never cared to search the information." Nebula reached for the moon, the wail a distant echo. "From how he behaves, I know the daemon is of the beast class."

He'd dwindled the options to some breed of dog or possibly a wolf. Which explained why he and Tempesta didn't get along.

Natural enemies served under a dragon.

"We both know Tempy is a feline, the apex of them. Perhaps a Coeurl."

"Without a doubt."

"What is Izzy?"

"An owl."

Imperatrix giggled. "His eyes are rimmed with bags from that intelligent mind keeping him up every night. They are similar."

"He's the smartest of all the clones."

She scooted closer, hugging her friend. "He is not Verstael."

The boy might hide himself in labs, refusing to bond with the world but he had an inherent, innocent desire to make people festive.

Genius freely gave out toys, the very representation of youthful jubilation.

Those machines took time and care to make, each a singularity of exquisiteness. Those very wonders were given to the other brothers and sisters to stay within the house of Besithia, breathing personality into conformity.

Verstael saw science as advancement only, there was no enjoyment in any of his deeds, simply ego. The son wouldn't fly too high to the sun as the father did.

"Let's hope it stays that way." Nebula stuck a sucker in his mouth, both hopeful for and dreading the day nicotine was no longer a temptation.

While old ways were comfortable and familiar, renewal was part of life. Aged as he was, the eldest Besithia would get with the program.

He wouldn't be an unteachable, old dog. A hound begging to be replaced.

"Should I be annoyed?"

The imperials craned their heads up, sighting Nyx leaning on the roof, rapping his knuckles on the ledge. He was resentful for the unintentional exclusion, on the account of him not speaking Latin.

"I couldn't understand a word."

"You ought to begin his lessons in our tongue. He'll be so useless in the empire otherwise." Nebula didn't switch to English.

"I would not know how to teach him; language is too natural for me to elucidate."

The gunman bit off the sucker from its straw. "Another issue to solve with this one."

The previous assignment the chancellor asked of him was a tedious drag. Now he had to locate a tutor for the man.

Nebula was a royal retainer and private secretary to the Crown Princess and captain of the Praetorian Guard. He didn't owe a damn service to the glaive but was being slumped with them anyway.

And this was only the beginning. Once Nyx became a royal consort, he'd be doing a lot more work.

"English, people."

"Has a decision been made? We can't stay here forever." Nebula sat up, crushing the straw in his palm. "We have a fleet to rejoin."

He recognized his wish wouldn't be granted. The intruder wouldn't stay an intruder after this.

Imperatrix peeked at Nyx.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He downplayed the magnitude of his choice, not that the glaive ever had one since crossing paths with an oracle and princess. "Betcha were hoping to get rid of me, huh, Trigger Happy?"

"Yes."

A thousand times yes. In all their spare hunts, he'd tormented the glaive to get him to run but it didn't work. No amount of "accidental" pain-darts and marbles to the head would dissuade Nyx.

Tempesta wasn't much help in warding the intruder off either. She'd eased off him since that hospital visit but before that, the club outing softened her to the glaive.

She was better suited to this job with her direct personality. But of course, his sister had to be an aggravating nuisance by derailing his plans.

Nyx would never leave. What a shame.

"That's cold, man. You could have hesitated to respond…just a little."

"But I'm not a liar, Nyx." The gunman tossed the crumpled straw at other man. "The only benefit to your presence is the balanced ratio of males and females onboard."

That was the only thing keeping drastic measures off the table.

"You mean, you're happy your new buddy is staying." Nyx climbed down the ladder. "Nebula, you dog. We're gonna get on, I tell you."

"No, none of that is right."

"Heroes win over everybody."

Nebula shook his head, pity waves bouncing off his mask for the princess to pick up. "Good luck tempering his delusions."

Imperatrix knew that to be folly. The glaive gave her such headaches.

Bags were conveyed from Nyx's room to sitting outside the house by the men. Libertus kept his sniffles to a minimum at his brother's exasperation and fear of waking Thea. The whole procedure of moving out dragged on the glaive, rendering him despondent once things were ready to be taken to the ship.

"Libertus." Nyx stripped his father's bow from his back, gingerly transferring the keepsake to the other Galahdian. "Take it."

"Hell no! I've already got your kukri, why are you giving me this?!" He shoved the heirloom back.

It took a lot of grit to utter the next piece. "Ma told me to leave it, said I didn't deserve to use Dad's bow in defense of savages."

The ex-glaive broke into the saddest face.

"Can't think of anyone better to keep it. Maybe pass it on to the next best hunter? I might not…" Nyx put the bow into new hands, refusing all the negatives what-ifs.

"Aw, dude, why? You can't keep doing this to me!" Libertus sniveled, barreling into his buddy for a hug. "You got to get better, Nyx. Then when you come home, Thea'll swipe everything under the rug."

"Sure thing, big guy." He thumped him on the back.

A second farewell to home. The glaive hoped to return healthy before this mom passed on but if not, the letter left on her dresser declared everything a son could.

Small tears gathered in Nyx's orbs as the airship scaled the sky and the ramp shut, closing off the bird's eye view of Galahd.

This chapter wasn't over.

"Best not unpack, we will be turning in Setzer at Galdin Quay." Imperatrix caressed his arm, hurt when he jerked it out of her grasp but then mollified as it settled over her side to bring them together.

"Are you going to let me in your room?"

"If you want."

Nyx's grin lacked the rascal quality, telling the princess of how lonely and homesick he was already feeling.

"Lead the way, Honey."

She brought the man to the commodore's quarters, sanctioning Nyx to inspect and pry as she did previously. Unlike the house, this room didn't have years of memories storied in four walls.

There was little revelation to be found in her open suitcase and her workstation at the desk.

Boredom settled in the glaive and he retrieved sleepwear from his bag. Satisfied that they would be retiring, Imperatrix took a shower, changed out of the borrowed clothes into a nightgown and checked her phone for any messages.

Ardyn messaged her but Nyx's voice distracted the woman from reading it.

"You're such a clean freak. Three showers in a day is overboard."

She cleaned herself right after they woke from the nap and coaxed him in with her. He couldn't grumble about that since the princess permitted him to have his way with her for a third round.

This day would assuredly leave his legacy if he hadn't already accomplished it.

"Having a clean body is a sacred act of life." Imperatrix set her phone down, joining Nyx on the bed.

She situated her back on his raised leg, draped over the glaive's middle as he reclined on the pillows. The glaive picked up a handful of white curls, curious with one of the princess's biggest vanities.

Lights out, the mood was mellow and soft with moonlight.

"You smell good, I'll give you that."

Perfume and hair products were things he didn't pay attention to on females, being adapted to the scent of outdoors and battle on everyone. Fragrances like peppermint, cotton candy and flowers were Imperatrix's favorites.

He didn't mind getting whiffs of these at all.

Talk lulled for a while as princess and glaive exchanged words with caresses and mindlessly tangled their fingers together to solidify the concept of reality and not a dream.

"Why isn't Cloud here? You drop him off after or did you want to keep us separated?"

"Nyx." Imperatrix would allow no more of this misconception. "You are fixated on the wrong man."

He lost the entirety of his train of thought, gaping at her.

"Ardyn Izunia is the first holder of my heart. I love him."

A dead stillness for his speech and a black void for his expression. Nyx had been mind-blown by the princess's profession.

"That shocking, my Darling?" She poked at his forehead.

"I'm going to sleep on this."

A million things ran uninhabited in his head. Every memory and scenario featuring the chancellor replayed mentally but Nyx couldn't fathom any of it.

How the shit did he miss this?!

Imperatrix could have laughed at how flabbergasted the glaive was or she could have complained of how rejecting everyone was of her and Ardyn. She did neither, embracing her stunned hero around the chest, tucked into his back.

He relaxed a bit, squeezing her hand.

Adjustments for all involved were in the future.


	25. Chapter 25 (Aranea Mature AO3 Content)

Oh, my goodness it's been too long. Life is hectic and this monster chapter took time to get right. People who leave reviews are a gift and validate the hours I spend on fanfiction instead of work.

 **Mature Content on AO3**

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"How long will you pout, oh hero of mine?" Imperatrix paused in typing on the computer.

To the right of her at the control station, was a simmering Nyx, hunched over with crossed arms in the practiced petulance of a denied child.

"Until I get to punch his face in."

"He is the imperial chancellor, a representative of the state. You will do no such thing."

He let loose a long rumble. "You're so defensive of him. How did I not notice?"

The signs were there the first time they pulled up in Ardyn's vintage ride. That was the beginning of Imperatrix's frigidity with him after they'd danced around each other's variety of flirtations.

She spent so much time with the chancellor when they were in Saxham. The mass imperial entourage made Nyx negligent to notice the whispering in languages only they knew and the close, intimate way they gravitated around the other. Their involvement was practically shoved out in the open but it took a scream to the face for the truth to be acknowledged.

He felt played! Ardyn was the reason Nyx went from favorite to forgotten so unexpectedly.

All that nonsense about nationalities and time was bullshit! Plain and simple, she got bored and was seduced by the chancellor.

That redheaded scum! The lying, old despot of a redhead!

"Forget not, but you are also older than me, Darling."

Nyx grunted to cover his embarrassment at letting slip some of his grievances. "I'm not pushing fifty."

"Forty-six is not fifty. And he has aged finely."

Subconsciously, the glaive pawed at the ruined side of his face. He wouldn't scare ladies away now that scars healed into thin pink lines. They might even pass for a trendy spiderweb design.

Look what this woman was doing to him, making Nyx fixate over his facial aesthetics.

"Ardyn's like…twenty years older than you. He saw you from birth to adulthood." Nyx quit picking at the blemishes, over the flash of vanity. "How can he… Doesn't that unnerve you the slightest bit?"

Imperatrix regarded the scenery outside the window. Instead of the seas of Galdin Quay, they were flying above the forest prior to Steyliff Grove. By the chancellor's word, this was their next destination.

Mythril was a component Genius overlooked in their expedition of resources and for that reason, they had to brave one more dungeon. At least, this was the original reason given but at the end of their phone conversation, Ardyn divulged that something more valuable than ore lied in store for the princess.

Ha! Doubtlessly another occasion for him to troll her.

"Ardyn has always been part of my life. I cannot fathom it without him. Therefore, how could I be unnerved? The sun shines, the breeze blows, water flows, life grows and he is there. He is a natural component of my life."

"You sound extremely lovestruck. It gives me stomach pain." Nyx gagged, sending a glower at the gunman flying Setzer. "And those loonies complained about our mushiness? Bah! Give me a break."

"Moreover, you criticized Ardyn's hair. For me, that vermillion was the beginning of my infatuation." The princess daydreamed with a hand touching the blaze in her cheeks. "It was like looking at the brilliance of a freshly bloomed tulip."

Ah, the legendary tulips of Persian folklore. Her mother filled Imperatrix's head with the tragic love story of Shirin and Farhad.

"Stop, just stop." The glaive covered her mouth, fixing Imperatrix with a predator's scrutiny. "Quit singing another man's praise or I'll leave you spent in bed. That'll be a tune I'll listen to."

She gripped wrist, burning with irritation and want. The princess resigned herself to submission for Nyx and while the act featured bountiful rewards, Imperatrix sporadically still received urges to be in command.

How to find a balance? How to not bash this man's face in?

On and off, Nyx could be so sexist without realizing it. His running mouth caused problems like another suitor of hers but of entirely different circumstance. The chancellor spun games with his silver tongue while the glaive roared invectives.

"Are you not tired? I have hardly left my room thanks to you." Imperatrix closed her laptop.

"What? Can't take me a thousand times?"

"I might have…overestimated my potential."

Nyx definitively wanted to rub that win in but upon detecting real fatigue from the princess, he stopped to review her.

Imperatrix had been sleeping in late to skipping her crack-of-dawn training. Oversleeping and laziness were two things opposite to her usual habits. Neither he nor Nebula were put out by these variations though, one got extra snuggle time and one got out of lengthy, exhausting exercises.

Part of the changes could have been from Nyx's increased —almost frantic— intimate episodes with the princess that tired her out. He couldn't help it after being starved of the activity for so long. On top of that, it was her; beautiful, elusive, moon-graced Imperatrix.

What man wouldn't overdo it? In this, he could understand Ardyn.

"You want anything from the kitchen?"

Another distinct possibility was that the princess was pregnant, which Nyx found highly probable, regardless of her adamant renunciations. A couple of months later when she started showing, he'd give her a smug "I told you so" and then kiss her as a bonus.

"No thank you. I am fine, Darling." Imperatrix glowed with joy.

As aggravating as Nyx could be —he inspired true unseemly behaviors from her— his sweetness could be just as endearing. Oh, these men of hers.

"How much longer, Nebula?" Nyx didn't want to make this stop but no amount of grumbling would get the pilot to turn around.

"Eh? Now you want to include me?"

The princes and glaive all but ignored his existence for over an hour.

He threw a paper ball at the gunman.

"I'm flying, idiot. Do you want us to crash?"

"We won't since _you're so good_ at piloting."

"Stop balling up my paperwork!" Imperatrix smacked the paper out of Nyx's hand before he could assault Nebula and start up a throwing match.

Getting more ammo proved easy for the glaive. He swiped the paperclips instead, snickering at each of them bouncing off the gunman's helmet.

"I need those just as much!"

"This fool wants to die." Nebula took a hand off the wheel, causing the ship to dip.

"Don't do that!" Nyx exclaimed, feeling the disturbance in his stomach.

"Then don't mess with me."

The glaive huffed out his frustration, relinquishing the paperclips to the princess. She struck him lightly on the ear in retaliation.

"I'm so bored." Nyx slumped forward, massaging his temple. "And no one asked me if I wanted to do a pit stop at an imperial scavenging site!"

"Do forgive us, Your Highness. I erred in not receiving your permission." Imperatrix put a hand over her heart, mockingly deferring to the glaive. "Where would our Hero Prince like to go?"

Nyx nodded his head for a few seconds, reveling in the addresses. "I know you're trying to be a prick but that sounds nice. Keep talking to me like that."

"Gods above give me patience." Imperatrix covered her face with her hands. "What kind of monster am I creating?"

Such arrogance!

For shame how she wasn't appalled by it! No monarch needed a consort that viewed themselves too highly. Thankfully, Nyx didn't show signs of being ambitious. One vice was manageable but two of that magnitude would bring down the dynasty.

"Where are you going?"

Imperatrix hardly heard Nyx, collecting her work and exiting.

"Don't ignore me!"

The glaive chased after the princess, leaving the bridge in the mechanical peace of whirring noises and beeping monitors. Nebula unwound in his seat, grip loosening on the steering wheel.

How he wanted to hurt Nyx.

Sadly, Imperatrix's chastisements about harming the man had become steadfast rather than passive. His hopes of them falling out were nonexistent.

They were stuck with this intruder for good now that the princess claimed him. How unfortunate that she added a moron to her harem.

In a rare instance, Nebula wished Imperatrix possessed his sister's looser morals. No one present would pitch a fit if she cast him out after a spell.

"The bleeding heart would never do it."

Not to mention, Nyx wouldn't voluntarily leave. He'd make a fuss out of it because men like him were territorial. Being denied would invigorate the glaive even more.

"What a dumbass." The gunman switched the controls to autopilot and dug out his phone.

An excruciating dumbass.

Nyx spent months pissed at the wrong man. Connecting him and Imperatrix in an entanglement? What a shallow and frankly insolent assumption to make.

Nebula hadn't done anything that could've been considered romantic when they were at the club. Simply being friends with a female shouldn't instantly constitute romance to an unknown person.

Males and females could be platonic.

Nyx made an ass out himself for no reason. Yet, he still ended up with the girl. Look at the logic of the world.

"I think I understand humans and then they prove me wrong." Nebula unlocked his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. "He's going to be extraordinary misfortune."

He switched the call to speakerphone when his girlfriend answered.

 _"Wow, I got a phone call? Don't I feel special."_

"Ehh… we speak on the phone more than we do in person at this point."

" _I'm messing with you, Sunshine."_ The loud background noise dwindled as Aranea distanced herself from it. _"Take the mask off, will ya? You sound twice as weird with it."_

Nebula figured the lovebirds wouldn't be back until they landed. He pulled off the headgear, shaking his hair out and combing out the knots.

Imperatrix was lucky Tempesta wasn't on board because she'd tease them mercilessly about their healthy libido. Good grief, that deviant would have burst in on them too, either attempting to watch or join. His sister had major issues, unsolvable by a top therapist.

"Is the chancellor still there?"

" _Right down to business? No 'I miss you, Aranea' or 'How's your day, Aranea'?"_ He imagined she was sporting a blasé frown, expression made lethal by her edgy makeup. _"You've got to improve on your small talk."_

"Why, when I know you don't like it?"

The commodore chortled. _"My man called it."_

"I'm guessing you're still miserable anyway, stationed at Steyliff."

" _That's an understatement. All this muddy water and the mosquitoes are getting on my last nerve."_ Aranea's voice lost the mellow fluctuation he found comforting as her vexation peaked. _"Chancellor Izunia's here alright, being a typical devil. Things mysteriously disappear and reappear days later but he has no idea about it. Daemons keep popping up outside the perimeter. And if Izunia doesn't stop stealing my subordinates to clean his car, I'm going to flip out!"_

The gunman waited a bit to see if she would go on. In the clear, he delivered news Aranea probably didn't want to hear. "Sounds harmless compared to what he does to people in his disfavor."

Was Ardyn being nicer because of Nebula's relationship with the commodore? He had invited them specifically due to her presence.

" _I guess… Everybody knows what happened with Ulldor."_ Aranea whistled. _"The stories of the senators are bad, too."_

"Consider yourself lucky not to be exposed to the machinations of a dark mind."

" _There's too much bad blood in the world. A girl can get tired of it."_

"You'll be home soon. Our forces are returning to Niflheim." Nebula leaned back in the chair, placing the phone on his chest. "Take a break from the petty disputes then."

Naptime was sneaking in.

" _A break?"_ The next part she said so lowly that only Nebula's heightened senses picked up the words from static. _"More like a permanent departure."_

He knew what his response ought to be as a servant and protector of the royal family.

Aranea was a valuable military asset, on course to eventually become the next admiral of the aerial fleet. She couldn't resign from duty. The empire required her service.

As a longtime, committed boyfriend, he also knew what his response ought to be. Well, there two angles he could go with that route.

Angle one: support Aranea's decision to abandon the military.

She'd become disillusioned, consistently turned down assignments, had lackluster performances and occasionally outright disobeyed orders. All these deeds earned her several reprisals and court-martials.

With this outcome, Aranea would no doubt return to her mercenary roots. Payment in exchange for her lance expertise seemed to the commodore's mode of action of late.

Not a terrible resolution…but the mediocre one. Wasn't Imperatrix always criticizing his habitual acceptance of "adequate outcome"?

Which led Nebula to consider angle two.

Still a supportive boyfriend but one that encouraged his girlfriend not to give up on her dream. Aranea wanted to be the first female admiral and fly Eidolon, the flagship. There were so few women of note in history that she craved to be one.

Imperial chronicles featured empresses as generals whenever the nation was in danger but it was a title in name only, the males still dictated the tactics. Imperatrix was the first princess to enlist in active military service and had the promotion been hers, would've been the first female royal to earn the rank of general.

Breaking barriers and promoting equality were higher purposes that both his liege and girlfriend sought out.

Nebula might not be interested in greatness himself but wasn't it his duty to advocate Aranea's potential since she had the drive? He may never reach a peak as Orion Nebula but he could help someone else shine like a star.

" _Are you listening?"_

"Ehh…I got lost in thought."

" _White lies are a thing, Sunshine."_

"They're still lies, though. Don't you want an honest partner?"

Aranea let the moment hang.

"Sorry. I was deep in thought about you."

" _You're good. You're so smooth."_ She slurred. _"What about me? You couldn't have gotten aroused from me talking about the soggy noodles I've been subjected to eating for days."_

He didn't even address the second portion. "Our future…more or less."

" _What's this? Voluntary Commitment from a man?"_

A repeat of the words was on the gunman's tongue but dozens of voices shouted from Aranea's end. She put the call on hold to concentrate on her subordinate's latest hitch.

" _Hey, I gotta go. These guys can't stay alive without me around."_

"Alright. I'll see you soon."

Aranea chuckled. _"Sure thing, Sunshine. We'll have a timed-honored playoff after catching up."_

"I'll win one of these days."

Losing at a shooting game in no way reflected his real-life skills. Nebula was an ace in the hole, a one-shot kill on enemies.

So what if Aranea massacred him in video games? In reality, she sucked at shooting, the place where it mattered.

" _Not if you don't practice. Learn how to use the game controller, you lazy bum."_

"Sure, sure. We'll see."

More shouting ensued on the commodore's side.

" _Alright, alright, I'm coming! We're in a swamp, a fire isn't gonna kill anybody."_

The clicked end of the phone call also signaled Nebula sliding to the floor to lay down. Lights dimmed from low power with the soft chiming of computers lulled him back to drowsiness.

"It's too bright." He put the helmet on to shade the world. "I'm tired… but I can't sleep."

Mental exhaustion didn't equal physical exhaustion.

What better to do than to think about Aranea in this predicament?

"The sky…"

She loved the sky; it was hers to fly among. Did he want to live up there with her?

In the kitchen, Imperatrix and Nyx were in the midst of a discussion. The princess was seated at the table, cheek on her knuckles, coping with an interrogation.

"How long?" The glaive went through two bags of chips and sodas in his circling of the table.

He was the bad cop deconstructing a scandalous love affair.

"How long what, Darling?" She assumed tea would settle her stomach but the lurch of nausea still bothered her thirty minutes later. "How long have we courted? How long have I been in love with him? How long have we been intimate? How long has he known about you?"

So many questions Imperatrix could guess were swirling in the glaive's head. His oddly subdued behavior was making her anxious.

Where were the outbursts these past days? A simmer about to blow was how Nyx came off to her, which made the princess wonder if he would instigate an altercation with the chancellor.

No, she had faith in her second consort. His pride wouldn't trounce reason and lead to disaster.

"All of the above!" Some soda spilled onto Nyx's hand from him slamming the can on the table. "And tell me why!"

There it was.

"As much as I want to, we have not the time."

From out the window, Imperatrix could see the multitude of trees and a bit of mist. With the season of Autumn on them, the swelter of a bog wouldn't drive her mad.

Nebula conferred with the princess by announcing on the intercom their imminent arrival. _"Fifteen minutes from the destination. Prepare yourselves."_

"You just want to be tight-lipped." Nyx balled up his trash, flinging it at the trashcan and swearing when it bounced off the rim.

"On the contrary, I will tell you. Honesty and communication are key components of any relationship." The princess moved her inspection from the glaive's muscled back as he picked up the trash, twisting her cup around by the handle instead of leering. "I want to be able to share anything with you, Nyx."

She would try to keep her hypocrisy levels low with him. Politics frequently compromised Imperatrix and she hoped they alone would be her failings at transparency.

"I believe you." Nyx wrapped his arms around Imperatrix's neck, resting his chin on top of her head. "You spill your guts to anybody that'll listen."

How many times did she show him tears? Way too many for a grown woman.

The princess cried during spars if he accidentally hit her too hard. She bawled during certain scenes whenever the group watched movies in the recreation room. Sometimes the moon just wept for no reason at all when no one was looking.

"Don't you have any shame? You're destroying the 'ice princess' troupe."

"Stop making me sound so pathetic." Imperatrix turned away from the stupidly handsome face next to hers. "I get enough of that from everyone else."

"But you are!" Nyx mussed her hair in the same obnoxious way he would for the oracle. "Both you and Luna were cold to me in the beginning. I stuck it out though."

"Why did you?" Free from him, Imperatrix fixed her hair, not wanting Nebula to get the wrong idea and judge behind his visor.

She was at least appropriate about her stunts with Nyx. He didn't have to dress her down with facial expressions.

"Those eyes trapped me. Sucked out my soul right there in the car." Nyx gripped her by the neck, rapt attention on rare lapis orbs. "What a gazelle-eyed beauty you are."

The princess shrunk away, overcome with fluttering bashfulness. "Calling me a soul-sucker is not kind."

"Then focus on the second part, you churlish woman."

Imperatrix shushed more of his growling with a finger to Nyx's lips. " _Hush my darling, don't fear my darling_."

He raised his eyebrows at the familiar tune.

"You and you alone may growl at me and I hear a purr. Your words may be unharmonious but I know your intent."

Nyx bit at her finger, triggering the princess to gasp and shout at him. He used that opportunity to pull her forward by the neck and kiss Imperatrix. She fell into his chest.

At that moment, he thought she might fight him. However, Imperatrix accepted the maneuver. The glaive sat with the princess on his lap, returning his kiss in a way that cleared out his mind.

" _We are five minutes away from touchdown so stop whatever the two of you are doing and get to the dock."_

They broke apart with a start.

"Every time." Nyx panted with minimal aggression. "I get blocked."

Imperatrix got off the glaive, swiftly cleaning up her mess.

"I think I'm gonna call you gazelle-eyes from now on. The other stuff doesn't work."

"As long as I never hear _baby_ uttered again." She didn't care for his brand of endearments and most of the ones he tested out on her sounded terrible coming from a brawny man like Nyx.

Maybe he shouldn't try at all.

"No, no, I'm still using that. It's the perfect description."

The princess retrieved her sword from the wall and then covered her ears from the glaive's persistent usage of the loathsome word as he followed Imperatrix to the launchpad. He only stopped when Setzer shook strongly from landing and they clung to the rails.

"When is he going to land us nicely?!"

"I heard that, Ulric."

Nyx jumped, whirling to see Nebula walking towards them as if he popped out of nowhere.

"How do you do that when you're in all white?!" He threw his hands up. "And why aren't you piloting?!"

"The computers can handle landings."

"Is this why we always experience a huge shake?!"

"Probably. Some adjustments could help that." The gunman shrugged. "Why bother though? There's no damage."

"Nebula, man, come on! This isn't okay. You're supposed to be manual for this!"

"Can we avoid fighting?" Imperatrix stressed.

Nyx knew she meant more than just with her retainer and snorted unhelpfully.

"It's the only thing he's good at."

" _Nebula_."

He bowed his head, stepping past the two to configure the ramp for descent.

The princess climbed down the stairs, smoothing down her shirt. She would've worn more than just the top of her uniform but the terrain would dirty a perfectly-good white commander's outfit.

No sense in ruining more clothes. Besides, her snowy hair proclaimed Imperatrix's identity to any imperial.

From the progenitor to now, Aldercapts were known for white hair and blue eyes. Her keepsake and pride from Tellus.

All roads led to him.

"Say, is Nebula really dating this commodore?"

"For six years." The princess answered distractedly, fastening the laces of her boots.

"And she hasn't run?" Nyx did his own primping by clipping his dual blades onto a belt and adjusting his pants to the new weight. "Either she's got strange taste or Nebula's charming outside the mask. I'll bet on the former."

"You are so rude."

"More like realistic. All of you are insane."

They'd rubbed off him to a degree. Why else would Nyx be on a Nephilim ship, using magitek and stocking magic flasks to his belt alongside the imperial princess?

"We have to be for putting up with you and the oracle."

Nebula's creepy voice right next to him made the glaive drop a bottle and dive to catch it.

"Stop doing that, you white-dressed freak!"

"Shape up your senses and I won't catch you off guard." Nebula strapped on all his guns. "You're so dense it's a wonder you gave our forces trouble. Some Hero of Kingsglaive."

"Wha? Was there a compliment in there?" Nyx threw an arm around his girl's shoulders. "You heard that, right? He called me the best."

The gunman wrenched him off the princess. "I did nothing of the sort and behave accordingly. Her Highness is a princess and commander!"

Imperatrix walked down the ramp, bickering males behind her. The smell of swamp hit her nose, sunlight struck her eyes and salutes filled her ears. Two soldiers hailed the princess and she smiled.

The guilty pleasure of esteem. She loved it.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Temp— er, Lunar… Can you act a little cuter?" Tempesta wrangled the oracle's chair, almost sending her out of it. "You're killing our pull rate with that moody face."

They were in Galdin Quay, on the beach in swimsuits, with guys drooling from a distance. Some of them had even been brave enough to approach them with drinks, which Tempesta happily accepted on behalf of the two blondes.

What was there to be grumpy about?

"I apologize, Storm. There is much on my mind." Lunafreya laid back on the chair, morosely studying Angelgard in the distance.

Just looking at the island chilled her to the bone for some reason. She shouldn't have such a feeling for a place under the Astral's domain.

Some parts of her soul just wouldn't reconcile with her thoughts.

"Quit it then! How am I supposed to get brunette over there to talk to you when you're so unapproachable?" She motioned to the male discretely checking them out while talking to his friend over in the table section.

"Why would he want to talk to me? Were you not his objective?"

Tempesta groaned, making the most outraged face she could. "No, you idiot! He came to me to ask about you!"

And wasn't that a blow? Getting her all excited for nothing, the schmuck.

"That makes no sense. He should speak to directly me then."

"You have no idea how guys flirt."

"Not…really."

"Gah! What am I going to do with you?!"

"Sorry."

Lunafreya had bigger conundrums to figure out than modern dating procedures, which shouldn't matter anyway. She was the oracle, there was one person destined for her. The males Storm brought her outside to see were of no concern.

Brother or emperor? Who to sell her fragmented soul to? That was the question.

The weaving waves reflected her indecision.

Something easier to think was: how did Storm manage to get into Lunafreya's quarters? Her room was under heavy guard to prevent an escape.

Not that the oracle could have gone anywhere, being marooned on Ravus's ship.

No one objected to the two blondes walking out Lunafreya's room and onto a boat back to shore. Nor did retribution come hours later.

Who was Storm?

"Look here, you're too hot to be this mopey. Just try to have fun." Tempesta plopped next to the oracle, gesturing to the great beach expecting them. "This is summer break in Galdin Quay!"

"It is November. We are far from summer." The oracle gripped her shawl tighter, mildly uncomfortable with the form-fitting bathing suit hidden under her dress. "And what do you mean by _hot?_ I am chilly in this weather."

"You weak shits gotta come to Gralea. You'll get a real treatment of cold." She pulled at the string of Lunafreya's bathing suit, letting pop against her fair skin. "When I said hot, I meant you're nice to look at. _Dumb Lunar_."

A shot of queasiness made her fidget in the chair. The oracle still didn't know why Shiva froze over half of Niflheim. Another matter that made her head hurt.

What did they do to anger the great goddess?

"Wait. You see me…as attractive?"

Tempesta gave her an impatient snarl reserved for the most unintelligent dweebs. "No shit, dumb blonde! How could I not when you're packing that body and face!"

"But…" Lunafreya felt the urge to distance herself but that would be rude. "We're females… You cannot think that way. It's…"

Storm was nice. Lunafreya wouldn't be mean the way the cardinals might have in this situation.

"Heresy?" The fist fighter finished, not offended by the obtuse, old-fashioned viewpoint of Tenebrae. "You're such a Sixer."

Lunafreya proved that by always reciting prayers at meals and spouting off Cosmology lessons whenever someone in the group did something she deemed bad. Were she anyone else, Tempesta and Nebula would have hit her.

They just ignored the indoctrinated girl, as Imperatrix bid them do.

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"Guess not but it makes you a bore." Tempesta stood up, body on full display in her two-piece. "It's up to me to corrupt you! That'll be my mission until Impera gets here."

Screw that whole "leave the oracle out of mischief"!

"I am above temptation." Lunafreya asserted.

Challenge accepted, Tempesta radiated determination. "You'll be saying something else when I'm through with you, sweet cheeks. Us Graleans are some of the best miscreants."

The oracle sputtered, red-faced out of mortification and ire. Imperials were cutthroat dastards and licentious fiends!

"How is Impera friends with you?"

A princess couldn't have this kind of degeneracy around.

"Believe me, her life was dull without me." Tempesta seized Lunafreya's hand, yanking her to a stand. "And if you haven't already noticed, the princess is a stellar example of cardinal sin."

She gasped at the strong grasp forcing her forward. The oracle couldn't resist at all!

"Heh, I'm thrilled to see her harem grow. She's been stuck on the same dandy for years and totally thick to other's needs." Tempesta didn't register how her captive was yelping and tripping over herself to keep up with the fist fighter's speedy strut. "These wankers just don't appreciate the kitten allure. Dipshit assholes, the lot of them!"

Cor and Imperatrix…the blind bats.

"I cannot go in, I'm still clothed!"

Lunafreya fruitlessly tried to backstep from the chilly tickles of fluctuating waves wetting the sand. She shrieked when pulled further into the water.

"Take your dress off then. What're you, stupid?"

"It's too cold for this!" The oracle continued protesting the unadvisable course of events.

It wasn't just the temperature warding her off the sea. Her soul cried out in opposition to the element.

"Excuses! Shut up and live!" Tempesta proceeded to strip the girl down to her one-piece, slinging the dress and shawl into the distance.

"You don't have to strip me!" She screamed louder when picked up and thrown over the shoulder of her friend. "What is happening?!"

They descended into the deep blue, world going quiet and still within the reality of marine life.

Lunafreya flailed about, immediately resurfacing for air. She shivered, coughing up water and wheezing for air.

"How terrible of her! Friends do not do that!"

Couldn't Storm see she was in no mood for any of this?! Why didn't the girl leave Lunafreya to her solitude?!

As soon as the ungrateful criticism shot through her mind, the oracle felt abashed.

To escape always seemed to be her greatest desire. Yet, when freedom was presented to her, she fell back into the system of chains. Be it destiny, her heritage or her faults, Lunafreya was forever an oracle trapped by the world.

"Can I be anything else?"

The sun had no answer for her nor did the waves. Oh, well. Some things shouldn't have a divine answer.

"Storm?" Lunafreya ceased her self-centered wallowing to observe her surroundings. "Is she still underwater?"

Few other people were braving a swim in light of the low temperature and looming imperial vessels. None of them had the saturated shade of sun-hair she was searching for.

"Impossible. It has been minutes."

Despite her disbelief, Lunafreya inhaled deeply and submerged herself. After her eyes adjusted, the oracle lost that carefully stored air in a gasp.

Storm was chasing around dozens of fish with brilliant, colorful scales reflecting each sparkle of sunlight to pierce the water. She failed to catch anything but the chase was more important than the prize judging by her playful movements.

It was so innocent and pretty. She wondered if Noctis did this?

He loved fishing.

So many of his entries were pages of fish types and the dinners Ignis cooked from what he reeled in. Just once…Lunafreya would have liked to sit on a boat with Noctis. Let the waves carry them…

Lack of air forced her out of the daydream. She swam up.

"How could Storm go so deep and stay under so long?"

Already, Lunafreya's lungs burned and her muscles were beginning to ache.

"How can I be drained? I have been training."

Pieces of her soul were gone from the covenants but the oracle wouldn't allow her body to decay. She followed Imperatrix's regiments and pushed herself, delaying her eventual breakdown.

A human body shouldn't be exercised to a crazy degree with no results to show. If she could fight and endure on the same level as Imperatrix and Ravus, a swim shouldn't beat her.

Magical and physical, Lunafreya wanted to excel.

"Cool, you're finally acting like a human." Tempesta swam to the oracle's side.

"You're back."

"So are you."

Lunafreya blinked, not understanding. "I did not leave."

"My party girl is back. Now have fun!"

The oracle went under with her friend tied around her. The two played at dunking the other, with Tempesta taking no pity on the oracle. Lunafreya couldn't win once and had to switch to splashing.

Still, there was no defeating a Besithia, the unfair advantage would always be to them.

Like any other friends present on the beach, they floated on a blow-up that drifted near them. Since no one had claimed it in the past thirty minutes, the two made it theirs for the time being.

Two shades of blonde hair mixed in the water.

"Out at sea like this…what better way to feel small?" Lunafreya murmured.

Why ever was she anxious about the ocean?

"Guys are great for making you feel small."

"Then why do you chase them?"

Tempesta scratched her stomach, pondering a response. "I got used to it from an early age. It's what drove me for a long time."

Cor, Cor, Cor. The beginning, the end, the center. There was no saving a lost cause like her, not even a rock to the head.

"You know all about unattainable dudes though." Tempesta moved her arm under her head for a better position.

"What do you mean?"

"Ravus never shuts up about your crush on Noctis."

Lunafreya's sudden movement tipped them over. The fist fighter spat out water and brushed her soaked bangs out of the way.

"Gods, you're worse than Impera."

The oracle hid part of her face under the water.

"Since we're back in the water, let's go look at the fish. There's a shit ton here!"

This time when wrangled into a course, Lunafreya went with the flow. Out of her funk, she saw and heard with the enthusiasm of her companion. Thanks to the device Storm shared, breathing underwater for an extra few minutes, was feasible.

Below, where an entirely different world existed, the oracle wanted to giggle. There so many colors and species to see.

Attracted to a new anomaly, fish twirled around the girl, a dazzling light source in the blue. She, in turn, was so entranced by the dance, Lunafreya didn't register the nips to her skin.

Once bigger fish joined in and started to overwhelm her, the oracle perceived the danger and painful bites. What was once beautiful became petrifying.

A parade turned into a hunt.

How did she become the witch? What had Lunafreya done to the sea creatures?

"What was that?! I've heard of shark attacks but not guppy attacks." Tempesta hacked from the exertion of swimming two people the shore, collapsing onto the sand after dropping the oracle. "What'd you do? Steal their food?"

"I...don't know." She curled in on herself, perturbed by the tiny red holes dotting her skin.

Maybe Lunafreya was wrong to ignore her body's warning. Some part of her knew the sea was dangerous.

But why?

"Has that happened before?"

"This was my first time in the sea. I had no idea that would be my reception."

"I wonder if the same thing happened to Ravus? He doesn't like the ocean either." Tempesta unintentionally burst into laughter. "He'd be a funny swimmer now."

One arm down and the high commander would go nowhere but circles if he swam.

Lunafreya unfurled from being a clam, scowling at her. "That's inappropriate. You mustn't make fun of someone like that."

"You're defending him? Guess you're not as mad as you think."

"He's still my brother."

"Where do you people get these morals?" Tempesta leaned back on her palms. "If you don't like someone then don't like them. Blood doesn't absolve them of everything."

No matter how much venom she spewed at Nebula, the middle Besithia didn't hate her brother. He cooked for her, had her back and tended to her wounds. She might actually love him like a brother and that included punching him out from time to time.

Lunafreya didn't look like she gave a shit about Ravus though from what Tempesta saw. Obligation towards a sibling was different from caring about them.

"I don't…hate him."

"But you don't like him."

Lunafreya hummed negatively. "It's more complicated than that."

"Uncomplicate it, girly."

"I…cannot."

Her heart wasn't into deciphering Ravus's significance. There were too many years of abuse and neglect between them.

Lunafreya found a new topic to think about. "Did you know? There are three realms?"

"Huh?"

"The three planes of existence: Astral, Mortal and Underworld."

Divisibility of the realms was a topic she found in the book loaned to her by the chancellor. According to the text, there were four.

A hidden dominion far out of the reach of the original three. A void realm thought to be the home of the daemons. How true were those observations?

The author known simply as The Sage sounded mad, disputing much of what Lunafreya knew. If any of the church members from home knew, they'd burn the volume and replace it with a book of hours.

"Having you as a sibling must be weird." Tempesta scratched her head, totally lost in the conversation.

"I retained the memory of you and Cloud getting into an altercation."

There were so many that Lunafreya could be talking about anything.

"It…" The oracle went quiet.

"Don't be a chicken. Speak up! The world ain't gonna stop to hear you mumble."

"He was very rough with you."

Another flippant comment would've been aired were it not for how disturbed Lunafreya looked. Tempesta was aware of the skittish episodes that came when someone touched the doll-like blonde.

The glaive and princess were the were ones the oracle didn't flinch from.

Imperatrix sat her down to explain the behavior but a lot went over her head. If someone hit her, she'd hit them right back. Even a baby should have that kind of common sense.

"I kick my brother's ass twice as much he does mine. So don't think I'm some kind of loser. I'm top dog— er, cat in the house!" Tempesta pumped her fist up, teeth gleaming from a grin. "Besides, that's how we operate. Our fists say it all!"

Genius and all the other nerdy clones were the oddballs, sticking to their clipboards and science projects. They could use a good'ol brawl!

The geeks were missing out.

Fighting was in human nature, proven by all the picture books Nebula showed her. Survival of the fittest was the way of life for the primordial humans from which they all descended. They might be clones…fakes that disrupted the natural order but she and the geezer understood a fundamental component of humans.

That made them humans too, right? Not just daemons?

"You remind me of another friend, Storm." Lunafreya studied the freckle-faced blonde so abundantly aggressive and friendly in a batch.

Their names were even the same…

"No, I don't! I'm one of a kind!" She shouted to end the matter.

"Do you know Impera's attendant? If I'm not mistaken, you both share names."

Tempesta laughed loudly, too loudly in fact. She couldn't get the chick off the trail.

Her stomach rumbling was a godsend.

"Oh, you're hungry?"

"Yeah, yeah! Let's go eat! We've been out here for hours."

The oracle dismissed her case upon realizing how hunger affected her the same. She walked around to collect her clothing before joining Storm.

"I take it you don't want to eat on Nautilus?"

"Would Ravus be upset if we went elsewhere?" Lunafreya's eyes went to the white flagship her brother commanded.

"Who cares? He can't do anything to me." Tempesta dug out pants and a jacket from her bag.

She couldn't cause a scene in the restaurant by being in her bathing suit. Why did the place even have a dress code?

They were on a beach dammit! Let the people eat in their bathing suits!

"We're going to the resort."

The fist fighter almost wanted to risk a nudity complaint just for the hell of it. Imperatrix's ensuing lecture and dissatisfaction dissuaded Tempesta from that path.

"Why are you so brazen with my brother? Won't you get in trouble?"

She slung an arm over the oracle's waist, laughing at her ignorance of the social structure.

"He might have military power but Metal Man can't afford to offend nobility. I'm the daughter of a duke and on top of that, the very one he has to go to for magitek upkeep." Tempesta kicked up sand in her outburst. "I dare Ravus to try me!"

"Nobles control the military? How does that work?"

"Huh? That's how it works everywhere. The guys with the guns answer to the ruler."

"If Ravus answers to Iedolas, what does that have to do with you?"

"I just told you."

Nobility rules all.

"You explained two different things."

"No, I didn't. You're killing me!" Tempesta went into the changing room, taking a shower to wash off the sand and seawater.

Lunafreya was in the next one doing the same and spoke over the running water. "Tenebrae doesn't have a militia. I have no idea how things work in other countries."

"How has your country survived without one?"

No militia? They were the weaklings of the world then.

"By being peaceful." She ground out.

Thousands of years of a nonviolent legacy overturned in a moment. What reason did any country have to attack the religious holy ground of the Astral's chosen intermediaries?

"Impera would argue that."

"Excuse me?!"

A loud squeak cut the air from a shower shutting off.

"Well, ask her if it upsets you." Tempesta shook off the moisture, wetting a drying off oracle.

"I will be having this conversation someday."

"Sure, sure."

That would be a heated chat. Both princesses loved their countries.

The fist fighter was too hungry to wait for Lunafreya to do her hair into those braids. She kicked the oracle out soon as her dress was on.

They entered the glamorized hut for tourists, being seated on the open side where they could see the boats and airships. Tempesta could spot a few of Imperatrix's underlings, either on leave or doing rounds.

They better not blow her cover. Particularly, the brainless communication officer she conned into doing a favor for her.

"You have an appetite like Tempesta." Lunafreya paled at the multitude of empty plates on the table.

The fist fighter choked on her wine, going purple for a second.

"Your names are mirrors, separated by languages." She cut into her cake, taken back to sharing a similar dessert with Noctis when they were children. "Your behaviors aren't that different either."

No amount of denials in hand gestures would deter the oracle's line of thinking.

"You're her, I'm sure of it!"

Since Storm appeared, there was no sign of Tempesta. Highly irregular since Imperatrix specifically sent the fist fighter to look out for her.

"W-Wrong…" Tempesta articulated, once out of the choking zone.

The coincidence of a lifetime bestowed its miracle on Tempesta. Her younger brother and the conned soldier made themselves known at their table.

"I can't believe you did this." Genius may have spoken in a monotone but the death glare was there behind the beamers. "Do you know how useless she is?"

The woman dressed up in Tempesta's gear slouched at the beratement, turning the visor on the actual owner of the suit. Her posture read wimpy.

"Show some respect, nerd-face!" The fist fighter jabbed Genius in the gut.

He croaked, sinking to the floor with his arms around his stomach. When the boy began groaning out her name, Tempesta stomped her foot on his head, effectively silencing her brother before he ruined the game.

"Kids are so insolent, ya know? Don't feel bad about putting them in their place, Lady Besithia."

The pretender went ramrod straight. "R-Right."

Luckily, the voice modulator maintained the air of menacing because this woman was a terrible actor. Tempesta picked the wrong one to impersonate her.

Goddammit, Imperatrix! Train the monkeys better!

"Tempesta?" Lunafreya questioned, orbs flickering between the normal-looking blonde and the masked entity.

She was positive Storm and Tempesta were one and the same! This demolished that deduction.

"What, Temple?"

"Nothing at all." She frowned, assured by the rudeness that the princess's retainer stood before her.

Tempesta gave the phony a subtle thumbs up for sticking to her pointers. Maybe she'd been too quick to judge.

"What do you want, Shrimp-Nerd?"

On his feet and recovered from the sucker punch, Genius scowled as deadly as Nebula. "I don't want to tell you now."

"Then get lost." The fist fighter waved him off without a second thought.

"Fine."

The scientist took his exit without further prompting, flustering the pretender.

"W-Wait, this is an important alert!"

"Be quiet, faker." Genius wrenched his coat out of the woman's grasp.

"Yes…my lord."

Lunafreya's skeptical glimpses at the masked imperial had Tempesta bashing her head on the table.

"Be on the lookout for the immortal. A few patrols have reported seeing him." The scientist shared, continuing his walkout.

"Cor's here?!" She bolted up, sprinting for her brother and grabbing the boy by the neck. "You little shit, start with that!"

"I tried. You were discourteous."

"Izzy, I'm going to kill you, clone you and then kill you again."

"That's not inspiring me to talk." Genius rubbed his neck, wincing at the indents left by nails. "And if you kill me there goes the information you want. You're daft without Neb."

Caring about his appearance was an obnoxious norm he had to preserve while in the presence of others. He couldn't present a bad image of their father.

He couldn't wait to be back in his lab though. There were so many noisy, chaotic humans buzzing around, all interrupting his work for minor things.

One meal a day should suffice for people and Genius didn't need so many showers! On Imperatrix's orders, her soldiers were smothering him. Give him chittering daemons over humans any day!

"Tell me already!"

Speaking of chittering, his sister was the worst of the bunch.

"Go check around the campsites. He's been popping in and out wherever there are battles." Genius gave Tempesta a map with locations of interest circled.

He had a hunch something deeper was at play.

The reports didn't match up. Some of them specified someone with Cor's features had been slaying monsters that threatened the imperial citizens camped out beyond the borders of Galdin. Others said Cor snooped around military equipment with a woman, damaging weapons and obstructing supply lines.

One helped and one hindered. It was obvious which one ought to be the field marshal.

That left the other suspect a mystery.

"This time I'll defeat the bastard!" Tempesta pounded her fist into a beam, causing the roof to shake.

People squawked and she darted from the scene of the crime, younger brother in tow.

"Not as a human, you won't. Cor Leonis is on par with a commander even without the use of magic." Genius looked at the sun. "Nighttime would be a better setting for a duel."

"I can take him day or night. Don't doubt me, Izzy!"

"Why do I bother counseling you?"

"How bout instead, you tune up my gauntlets?"

"I just did. How dare you break them already!" The scientist hit at his sister's arm.

She barely noticed the attack. "I wouldn't say break, more like nicked."

"You have no respect for my craft!"

"Hey, hey, that's not true! I wouldn't bother asking if I didn't."

Genius was mollified to a degree. "Fine, let's go."

"Right now? I'm with Temple."

"Now! I'm a busy man."

"Sheesh. Untwist, ya demanding geek." Tempesta could leave the oracle and phony together for an hour.

"I could misconfigure your gauntlets so Cor kills you."

She laughed, messing up her brother's hair and shoving him forward.

Ultimately, what did it matter if Tempesta died? There were countless other female clones to replace her.

Would anyone cry for a fake?

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Welcome to my temporary abode, Commander Aldercapt." Slouched out in a chair, Aranea gave a lazy salute.

The men hovering near her were used to the commodore's laid-back attitude but they feared the princess might take offense at such a flippant greeting. What they didn't know was that Imperatrix was very acquainted with this particular brand of temperament from her elder retainer.

She merely placed a hand over her heart and bowed her head. "My thanks, Commodore Highwind."

"Can you two get some chairs?" Aranea suggested for the gawking males. "And tell everybody to behave for fifteen minutes."

They pounced on the busywork and she rolled her eyes. Newbies were always skittish around higher-ups, fearful of a minor infraction leading to a grim punishment. Those kinds of leaders gave the rest of them a bad reputation.

It sucked that there were so many of those bad-apple types populating the legions and platoons.

The Niflheim military was dying for a clean sweep. She for one, would be ecstatic to see the glowing-eyed androids and masked clone infantry, dismantled for good.

Thinking of them brought up awful images. Remove the mask and Aranea would see Nebula, dead on a battlefield.

"How can the eighty-seventh unit be of service?" The commodore hid her lapse from the one staring her down from a visor.

She didn't like Nebula's helmet.

"We are here to retrieve Mythril on behalf of Genius." Imperatrix shared, covertly searching for the true person responsible for dragging them on an impromptu errand.

Not a fedora in sight, no signs of pranks, no Vixen and not a sound of Ardyn's grandiose voice. The chancellor told her he would be here.

"All we require is permission to enter the cave to retrieve the ore."

"And here I thought you'd want us to get it." Aranea eased up a little, motioning for the soldiers to put down the chairs. "That's a load off because we haven't found the treasure spot yet."

Imperatrix winced as she sat down.

Judging by how much this unit unloaded —tents, a cooking area, equipment setups and recreational divisions— they'd been here for a few weeks. How unfortunate for them, being postponed in a swamp.

Aranea had to have gone stir crazy. An unhappy leader meant an unhappy crew.

"This scavenging job is all the more difficult since the doorway only opens at night and the daemons are a blight for my crew." The commodore cracked a small smile. "Having you two down there would help me out."

"Of course I am willing to assist." Imperatrix curved her head in Nebula's direction, already knowing his answer.

"I'll go."

"Knew you wouldn't say no to me." Aranea leaned more to the side of her chair facing the third, silent person of the princess's entourage. "And who's this?"

Imperatrix drew a blank. She couldn't say the glaive's name, the soldiers would ponce.

Nyx's identity had been a concern pushed to the back of her mind in favor of several other issues, namely events going on in Galdin Quay with her legion.

Oh, gods. This predicament would be worse there.

"This is Ragnar, a retainer of Lady Lunafreya." Nebula disclosed.

The princess kept a straight face as if the information were known to her. Nyx on the other hand, stupidly or stubbornly, refused to play along.

"Uh, what? I'm—" He groaned, crumpling over from the pain of a dart stinging him in the hip.

There was no gunshot and barely any motion from Nebula! What the hellfire?!

"He was too ill to accompany his liege and Tempesta went in his place. He's not entirely trained, so excuse his idiocy."

Imperatrix nodded with a serene smile. She fancied the alias and its suitability to Nyx.

Galahd and Daneinar were very similar in their customs and beliefs. Both were governed by tribes, following a warrior and hunter lifestyle. There were minor differences in the deities they worshipped but ultimately they hailed from the Norse Gods.

While inhabiting the Ulric home, the princess saw icons of wolves, meant to represent Fenrir. To them, the wolf was idolized for its strength but the Danes didn't view him as majestically.

A monster to one and a hunter to another. How perceptions could differ between people.

How did Nebula come up with such a Germanic name? He had zero interest in Danish history.

"He's Lady Lunafreya's? I thought the guy belonged to the princess. Another shiny object for the dragon to hoard."

"I do not hoard." Imperatrix quibbled but Nebula's head bobbed in agreement with his partner's statement. "I…do not!"

"Chill, you've got good taste." Aranea threw a foot up to rest on the gunman's knee. "You keep Sunshine around after all."

She chuckled at him crossing his arms and turning his head away to pretend they didn't exist.

"I am happy to relinquish him to you."

"All right." The commodore latched onto the offer, taking her foot off Nebula and standing up. "Feel free to wander around the camp. Maybe, find the chancellor and keep him from bothering my crew."

"I will speak to him."

Ardyn would be a nice distraction until nightfall.

"Later, Princess." Aranea grabbed ahold of her boyfriend's collar.

Nebula sighed a little but allowed himself to be pulled up. He did relocate her hand to the chest area of his jacket since his height on the woman would've had him hunched over to trail behind her.

Learning of his inherent canine attributes unconsciously caused his girlfriend to treat him like a pet on occasion. He was still undecided if these actions were bothersome or endearing.

Being dragged around like he was on a leash was more on the bothersome side though.

At least Aranea didn't call him strange things related to dogs or pet his head. Any of that was too humiliating for a man in his thirties to put up with.

Aranea calling him "Sunshine" was on the endearing side, even if the name was more of a jab at his lack of expression. Like Tempesta, she was prone to giving nicknames and since they weren't derogatory, Nebula tolerated them.

"What was up with that? Why'd you send off Nebula?" Nyx rubbed his hip, trying not to jump from every imperial they passed.

Some were playing games, some were patrolling, some were doing repairs and some were doing inventory. Lots of activity going on in a dank, muddy forest that if you took a wrong step, ended up in huge puddles. Getting closer to the dungeon would put the person in an actual pond.

He was ready to go.

"They have not seen one another in a long time." Imperatrix looped back around to explore a new section.

"Why does that… No! She's the commodore?"

"Yes, were you not paying attention?"

"Honestly…no. I was distracted."

Those kids with guns strapped to their shoulders, looming behind Aranea were worrisome. They reeked of freshness and their nervousness made the glaive twice as nervous.

If Nyx had to suffer a trigger-happy imperial, he'd rather it be Nebula. Better to die from an intentional shot than an unintentional one.

" _She's the girlfriend_ that Nebula's always playing online with? Totally different from what I had in mind."

Nyx bumped into Imperatrix from not paying attention. Thinking he was driving towards the doghouse from her pause, he swerved course.

"Not that I've been giving her a lot of thought!"

"Why are you blaring?" The princess tugged him further from a group looking up from their card game.

Based on the double-takes and the rising whispers, the soldiers were beginning to realize royalty was in attendance. If they swarmed her like was usual, Imperatrix would be delayed from locating Ardyn.

She wanted to find him.

A word, an embrace, a kiss, any one of them would sedate her.

"I thought he was dating a robot. Or, at least not a real person…like a phone AI."

"Why would you think any of that?"

"Because it's Nebula!"

"That illuminates nothing."

"It explains everything!"

"Stop being dramatic. You are acting as though we are anomalies." Imperatrix sat on a low Stonehenge, brushing her sticky bangs out her face.

Did it have to be uncomfortably muggy to the point of stuffiness?! For goodness sake, it was November!

Where was the cold weather?!

"Are you tired?" Nyx laid a hand on top of her head, half-expecting her to vomit or pass out.

She didn't eat much this morning. Was that because the princess couldn't hold anything down?

"It's too hot!" Imperatrix whined instead.

"W-Wha— don't do that!" He immediately zipped her jacket back up. "Despite what you think, it's chilly out."

While the glaive donned thicker clothes and a coat to deal with the misty air, Imperatrix and Nebula did the opposite. They stuck to lighter versions of their uniforms.

He also noticed that a majority of the imperials were dressed in lighter versions of livery. Aranea herself had been in a tank top and jeans with a furred jacket loose on her elbows.

Damn…

That woman had a body matter of fact. A low-cut shirt had her assets out for viewing.

"What're you doing?! Don't be lewd!" Imperatrix slapped his hand off her breast, darting her head around to make sure no one saw. "Not here, Nyx."

Secluded over in the ruins section, they were alone but a nosy trooper could have followed them.

"My bad…I lost myself." His coloration lasted for a second before he irrationally got discontent. "Wait a minute. You're suddenly not a fan of PDA?"

This woman was forever kissing, hugging and praising her retainers, regardless of the audience.

Recently, Lunafreya even got included in this festival of affections. When Ravus was with them, he sneered and recoiled from any coming his way. Genius was probably the most passive recipient but he still accepted the princess's eccentricities.

Clearly, Imperatrix was fine with showing off massive wells of love.

"It's me, isn't it? The imperial princess is ashamed of the Galahdian, right?"

She gasped, face stricken with distress. " _How dare you_ , Nyx Ulric! How many times shall you accuse me of callousness?!"

"What else am I supposed to believe?!"

Most infuriating of all, the princess acted all coquettish with the chancellor like it was nothing! She let him kiss her hand and flirt with her.

But it was a problem for Nyx to make any moves on her or expect any from her towards himself.

" _Lower your voice_." Imperatrix emphasized with barely concealed fury, nudging the glaive a step back from being in her face. "And recall to whom you speak!"

Those warnings set Nyx off into a rant that riled the princess up just as bad.

"Six, here we go with the Latin."

Imperatrix switched to Persian, cursing the glaive vigorously.

"Yeah, yeah, just go on _Miss Language Expert_!" Nyx couldn't understand a word from the slew but he reciprocated with what most recently pissed him off. "You all changed my clothes, my weapons, my looks, and even my name! _A man's name is his pride_! So, what else you wanna take from me, woman?!"

In catching his breath, he had some clarity come through and the sinking feeling started. Imperatrix trembled from her descent from outrage and balled her fists up.

"Gods, give me patience."

"Wait…wait, I didn't mean—"

She slapped his hand off and held up one for him not to touch her. "This is not the place nor the time."

"Impera…" He knew this had to be corrected with how glossed over her eyes were but Imperatrix was pulling away.

"Get out of my sight!" The princess cried with finality.

No matter how they dressed it up, just like Lunafreya, there would be underlying resentments. She couldn't change the past, merely mend the present to better the future.

"No, I won't." Nyx refused to leave and tried to get Imperatrix to look at him but she steadily side-stepped him.

"Disobedient to the end."

She was so disheartened with how speedily Nyx verbally attacked her and from something insignificantly contrived in his head. That blasted imagination of his!

And she didn't want him touching her!

His touch made her recollect their intimate moments and a devastating notion of them being insignificant pervaded Imperatrix's thoughts. Such beautiful remembrances didn't deserve to be tarnished.

Not for Nyx's baseless accusations.

"Imperatrix, stop walking away from me!" The glaive didn't enjoy strong-arming his girl and knew how much she hated it but he couldn't let her go sulking in pain from his insensitivity.

She pounded on his chest. "Go away already!"

"Not until you listen to me!"

Her punches embarked on a level of vigor and Nyx had to cage Imperatrix's wrist before she bruised him. The princess was a footstep away from flipping the man when clapping startled the two.

"Now, now children. Let's break this up. I've heard enough of this lover's spat."

Nyx's mood instantly dropped and his hold on the princess tightened at her brightening expression in the direction of the interloper.

"Ardyn!"

The chancellor doffed his hat. "Princess, how lovely to see you."

She would've run to him but the glaive continued to hold her hostage. Imperatrix's voice held no softness for him when her mouth moved.

"Let go, Nyx."

"Nope, not a chance." He did the reverse and pulled her closer.

His chest would crack open if he let her run to another man without mending his screwup. Nyx couldn't control himself anymore and for the millionth time had to consider if he'd just gone crazy after Insomnia or the cancer was truly messing with his brain functions.

He wasn't one to lose his top so bad with a woman.

"I must reiterate calming down. All this noise is going to attract the soldiers." Ardyn strolled forward, hand rolling in motions to generate an unnoticeable barrier.

What these two didn't know was that he'd used magic to confuse those inquisitive enough to inspect the yells. The dome muted sound and had the added effect of mild confusion on those who got too close.

Intricate spells of this caliber were a tricky tune to manage. Musa would be proud if she could see him dual casting.

With his well of magical reserves, the chancellor could keep the spells going for days but he wanted to conserve the energy in preparation for later company. Warriors of Light made him terribly sick and weak.

The cold dug deeper into his chest.

"I'd rather deal with the soldiers than you."

Ardyn simpered behind his hat, dangerous yellow globes showing more amusement than was appropriate for the rudeness thrown his way. He put the accessory on and ambled into the lion's den.

Having the redhead up close hammered in how tall the man was compared to Nyx. The glaive instinctively rolled back on his heel to accommodate craning his neck up to meet Ardyn's eye.

"They at least would shoot me in the chest and not the back."

How could Nyx put up with this level of jealousy? How was Imperatrix able to bewitch him like this?

"So spirited. You're comparable to…a watered-down version of an old friend of mine." The chancellor mulled over the two males.

Tellus and Nyx shared a sense of egotism, brashness, a love of beautiful things and striking aesthetics. Naturally, though, the Persian prince stood higher in Ardyn's favor.

The chancellor had quite the soft spot for white hair, blue eyes, bronze skin and an elegant cadence in speech.

"Hard to imagine you have friends with how underhanded you are."

"That's a part of the job, I'm afraid. You will understand soon enough."

Putting up with a mixture of jealousy and possessiveness would test the chancellor's patience. The instinctual necessity in humans for ownership would never fade it seemed.

Who was he to judge? Ardyn wanted Imperatrix as his wife and to be her husband after all; marriage the most enduring and challenging case of ownership that people put themselves through.

" _As if_ , _Izunia_."

" _So hostile_! If that's how you feel, then I suppose my hard work has gone to waste." Ardyn waved around a small black booklet. "Ragnar shall die before living."

By the sigil on it, Imperatrix recognized the object. "You forged him a passport?"

That would be where Nebula got the name. He and the chancellor schemed this without her knowledge.

"Guilty as charged. It'll be our little secret, my dear."

She held out her hand for the pamphlet, flipping through the pages once Ardyn acquiesced. The picture matched Nyx's current Gralean-styled haircut. His place of origin was noted as a citizen of Daneinar.

Ragnar Svardson. What a noble and strong name, fitting for a man of Nyx's caliber.

"I'm hearing _Ragnar_ a lot now. Why? Who said I was changing my name?" The glaive sniffed peevishly, handing the passport back to Imperatrix. "I'm Nyx Ulric!"

"Not if you wish a place by dearest Imperatrix's side." Ardyn corrected, cruelty in his polite smile when delivering the truth. "You're an enemy of the state. _Nyx Ulric's_ death is guaranteed if he steps foot in Niflheim."

The glaive deflated, ears picking up the distant sounds of military drills. His bubble of invincibility popped for a dash of reality.

Any one of those people out there could kill him.

"Ragnar, however, has an opportunity of a lifetime." The chancellor circled the glaive, voice dipping to a lure. "Are you willing to take a chance?"

Ardyn was nowhere near him but Nyx felt the chill anyway and a tingle went up to his spine. His phantom pains were striking, compelling the restlessness in his fingers.

Why did Imperatrix love this creep?

"Shouldn't you be warning me off?" Nyx spun to face his competitor. "Aren't you with Impera?"

Laughing was a difficult urge to fight off but Ardyn did, out of respect for Nyx's tenuous feelings. It'd been so long since romance trifles from someone other than his wife inconvenienced him.

The chancellor implanted the idea of Nyx as consort into Imperatrix's head to replace himself. As a result of turning his back on the original plan —entirely a willy princess's fault— he would have deal with this.

Ah, the consequences of being a matchmaker.

"I am vying for the princess's love, as many a man will find himself doing. What a trial it has been!" The chancellor added a minor swoon to his confession.

"Ardyn." Imperatrix protested, frown more of a pout that made him blow a kiss at her.

"Then, what the hell?!" Nyx launched out his arms as if that should clarify everything else.

"We must talk more. Later though." Ardyn glided past the glaive, sweeping the princess into his arms.

She clung to him as they spun.

"I'll let you play with him a little longer before I do anything, Dearest."

Imperatrix squeaked out an indistinguishable noise as he kissed her cheek. "Who is greedy now?"

"Both of us. That hasn't changed in two millennia."

The sage wanted to save the world and the princess wanted the most magnificent family. What far-reaching fools they had been.

"Where are you two going?! Don't ditch me!" Nyx shadowed the lovers, intent on adding himself to the equation.

Inside the airship of the eighty-seventh unit, a less tumultuous affair took place.

After double-checking that certain events such as nobody died or was in the process of dying, her ship wasn't on fire metaphorically or literally and people were preoccupied, Aranea locked herself and Nebula in the commodore's suite.

She tossed off her jacket and fell back on the bed, exhaling out her exhaustion in a bone-popping stretch. Nebula pulled off his helmet and set it on the floor before lying next to the woman absent from his proximity for months.

For someone prone to constant, cavernous apathy, he felt a stirring upon studying Aranea. While her body and its stretched out position were pleasing to the eye, it wasn't desire clouding his mind.

"Is that a smile, Sunshine?" She poked at the gunman's cheek, tracing a nail down his chin and then tugged on his goatee.

"Aren't I supposed to smile for you?"

"If you want. Don't do it to follow some guidelines."

She wasn't even sure where Nebula came up with his ridiculous list for things a boyfriend should do. It had to have been from a magazine.

The peculiar behavior was understandable in the beginning but her dude needed to grow out of memorized column advice.

"I stopped that a few years ago."

Aranea's face must've given her thoughts away.

"Whether that was shrewd or not, hasn't been decided."

Considering the life he had before Imperatrix, Nebula had no concept of a relationship was. His ignorance would have last till death were it not for the princess ordering him to explore the bonds of humanity.

What a high-maintenance order. Approaching Aranea seemed the most logical choice for him to investigate connections.

She was strangely intrusive about his shift in personality, which made him wonder if the previous Nebula knew her. When questioned about it, the commodore swore they never interacted but she watched him with Imperatrix enough to know something major had changed.

Shiva's attack drastically changed circumstances. Aranea of all people understood that but she still didn't let him off the hook about his sudden lack of love for Imperatrix.

With her neurotic interest in him, one day Nebula flat-out asked Aranea if she was in love with him and mystifyingly, the woman confessed to an attraction. From there he made a frivolous decision.

Relationships had begun on stranger terms.

"So, these displays of affection are a reflex? You've come so far." Aranea ruffled Nebula's spiky blonde tresses. "It only took six years."

"Has it been that long?" He drawled, spying his reflection on the visor.

Not a single grey. Nebula was old, ancient even, by clone standards. Most of them tended to die two or three years into the field.

He'd served the princess for ten years and before that was an MT footman.

"You're impressing me, Sunshine. Firstly, a smile and secondly, I don't smell a whiff of smoke." The commodore slid closer to him, lethargic in inhaling Nebula's scent. "This is some top-notch flirting."

"I'm keeping my promise to you."

Soon, very soon the gunman would be able to dispose of the pack of cigarettes.

He'd graduated from carrying them on his person to stuffing the box into his duffel on Setzer. His lungs would survive another ten or so years without the damage from packs of cancer spread out over days.

His vice…his addiction would be gone.

"Yeah, you're killing me." It might be zany for her to derive excitement from actions ordinary people did on a daily basis but under the context of her boyfriend, Aranea had the right to be stimulated.

People dating non-smokers didn't realize how lucky they were. The risk of lung cancer from cigarettes rubbed her the wrong way.

"Prolonged separation could be affecting my common sense, too."

Nebula turned to connect his lips to ones so near his ear. Her incredulity at his initiation switched to mirth and she angled her dead to deepen the kiss.

Not a trace of nicotine. In fact, Aranea tasted…

"Ugh, what the shit?! That's worse than the cigs!" The commodore pawed at her mouth, rolling her tongue to banish a gross aftertaste of tar. "What did you eat, Neb?!"

He craned his neck, hiding a faint dusting of pink underneath his freckles. "Izzy gave me these lollipops to help my addiction. I forgot how horrible they can taste."

"How could you forget something like that?!"

"Ehh, I got used to it. Desensitization and all that." Nebula shrugged, still refusing to look at his girlfriend. "My apologies."

Feeling guilty, she planted a smacking kiss on his cheek. "Go rinse it out. I've got spare toothbrushes in the bathroom."

Nebula rose up.

Watching his droopy way of walking, pristine white uniform, swishing yellow hair and barcode tattoo on display, all contrasted with what Aranea saw from the rug rat beside Prince Noctis.

Fresh-faced and naive as he was, the commodore had to mess with Prompto.

It didn't take much to turn him into a pile of putty. Getting in the boy's face had the benefit of incapacitating him in the fight, which worked out fine for Aranea since she didn't want to injure him.

If she knew that encounter awaited her, she'd never have taken up Caligo's proposition. Money could come from somewhere else and the commodore could live with another day of boredom.

"Tell me, did I teach it right? Do you understand after six years?" Aranea broached cautiously.

Feelings were a minefield to wade through. Growing up with mercenaries for parents stunted her ability to blow through the field like some people she knew.

No matter how exact their appearances might be, Prompto wasn't Nebula. There was only one of him in a multitude of golden hair and blue eyes that populated the Besithia mansion.

"Should I say the words?" The gunman queried from atop Aranea, piercing her with the magnitude of his focus.

Kill shot incoming and she was the victim. One, two, three, fire!

"Only if it's true. Don't do it to win brownie points."

The silence felt like hours and Aranea resolved herself to waiting a bit longer.

So what if a profession took years more? She was satisfied with what they had. A lack of words wouldn't ruin that.

"Aranea." His spiked bangs pricked the commodore's face and she had to fight a sneeze. "I love you."

She lost.

Nebula flinched from being sneezed on and wiped his face.

"Damn it." Aranea laughed bitterly at mucking up a perfect scenario. "Redo, redo! I'm hitting the continue button."

"Ehh, this isn't a video game. There are no redoes."

"The Ace of Shots is embarrassed? Where's my phone?"

The gunman sighed, feeling the heat in his face. "How can Impera stand this?"

He and Tempesta made fun of the princess ruthlessly for her amorous behavior towards the chancellor. She was exceptionally dreadful in her younger years. Those days, Imperatrix blushed hard enough to be visible on her olive skin and used her hands to ineffectively hide that evidence.

Oh, gods…the long-winded paragraphs she went on about Ardyn.

Tempesta was wrong to steal those letters and blackmail him into listening. Imperatrix was so blatantly passionate for a princess.

Using her as a basis for a relationship was impossible.

Nebula would die. Confessing once left him clammy and bare. He couldn't do it twice in one sitting.

Besides…wouldn't it cheapen the previous one if he said it a second time?

"Hold your horses, Sunshine. I'll accept your previous effort."

The gunman's back hit the bed and Aranea's pretty face hovered upside-down from his.

"I'm happy I got to hear it once. I'll take messy over never. Who wants the rosy version anyway?"

It was the taste of mint this time.

Her tongue traveled more and the feel of a gloved hand traveling down her neck got Aranea to groan. Another throatier one escaped when that hand stopped at the top of her jeans, resting on her stomach.

Nebula grunted from Aranea accidentally biting his lip too hard from him going under the jeans. He licked the area, metallic taste registering in his senses.

Heavy breathing alerted the gunman to his girlfriend's apparent liking to his conduct.

"Sorry, it's healed now."

"Tch, it wasn't the blood that got me bothered. I'm not into that brand." Aranea unbuttoned his top, caressing Nebula's chest. "Your tongue got me thinking about your new candy addiction."

"Want to see what I've taken up for you?"

A straight-face, mixed with the slightest upturn of an eyebrow, speaking a suggestive proposal shouldn't have worked as a turn on…but it did. The commodore's sexual inclinations had gone so far left of normal.

Oh, well. She'd own up to it with pride.

"I could die from this." Nebula wheezed.

She snorted. "You're too lazy if that's the case."

"Ehh…probably."

He sagged onto his side, boneless and dazed. The image of Nebula sprawled out naked and half-asleep was missing one thing.

"I'll miss you smoking after sex. The smell was comforting."

And he looked sexy as hell puffing the death-match while lazily watching her. It also had the benefit of disarming him into pillow-talk.

"Don't ruin my work, Aranea. You have no idea how bad the withdrawal phase was."

Tempesta became the main victim of his violent mood swings but it worked out since he finally paid her back a little for all the times she abused him. It felt good to whack the brat right back.

Sad that he would have to yield to the "good older brother" act now that the withdrawal stage was over. On the other hand, the midnight shakes, nausea and junk food munchies were done and over.

"Let me try one of those."

"Not these." Nebula prevented Aranea from taking candy from the case. " _These_ are the gross ones."

He gave her a lollipop from the fully stocked row. Those were the decent brands saved for after the revolting killers were consumed.

"This tastes normal. Why aren't you eating these?" Aranea chewed at her confectionery instead of licking, crunching noises louder than the air conditioner.

"It's smart to get rid of the unpleasant stuff and then enjoy the good stuff."

"And you gave me one." Aranea smiled over the stick, lounging back beside her companion so comfortably settled on an array of disorderly pillows. "Aren't you whipped?"

Nebula's light expression progressed to solemnity. He flicked the stick to the side of his mouth, speaking his next words in a measured tone displaying all his earnest sentiments.

"I did say those three binding words. There's nothing more telling than that, Aranea."

"Ah, Sunshine…" She choked back the compression on her chest that wanted to gush words from her mouth.

Fanciful eloquence wasn't a forte of Aranea Highwind. She couldn't spin tales of love like the average woman and had no right teasing Nebula for being unable to do the same.

They were a pair. Two stilted idiots.

"I heard them from you." He closed his eyes and a tiny smirk broke out. " _You're whipped_."

"You were first."

"No, _you were_. That's how all this started."

"I wasn't whipped, I was intrigued."

"Is there a difference? You went overboard for my attention."

"You're exaggerating! Sitting down to talk to you wasn't extreme. That's how people meet."

Nebula couldn't argue since he had no examples to go off.

"Fine. We're both whipped." He yawned, about to nodded off.

"I can agree to that."

Aranea was tempted to shake her boyfriend awake but decided not to. She'd let him be indolent since it meant staying in her room for longer.

Outside the airship, things were less blissful.

Imperial soldiers shouted, adamantly defending their claims. On one side of a table, a gold card shimmered with the reflection of the sun, exhibiting an armored victor. On the opposite side, a red card gleamed with less splendor, showcasing a sword wielder on the cusp of mastery.

" _The Unbreakable Sword: A Blooming Red Lotus_ is obviously the best! There's no contest!" The owner of the gold card yelled, banging his fist on the table.

Undaunted, his opponent justified the red card. "No! _The White Princess: A Bud Before Bloom_ is better! It's the original and classics outshine all others!"

The accompanying exclamations either agreeing or disagreeing, worsened the argument.

"How did I get drawn into this? Better yet, why do I keep ending up in these absurd situations?!" Nyx fumed to himself, excluded from the debate by choice and not because nobody paid attention to the glaive.

After Ardyn stole Imperatrix, he followed them to the guy's car, which somehow sparkled despite being parked in a marshland. If there wasn't so much loathing eating at him, he might've expressed admiration for the vintage model.

The chancellor loved his vehicle from how much effort he put into its upkeep.

Nyx had to acknowledge Ardyn's ability to care for precious items. Imperatrix being the next prime example from how much she fawned over the devious bastard.

The princess embraced the chancellor and let him spin her around like some cheesy scene from a rom-com. Cheesier than that was how they interacted so seamlessly, so adoringly and ever entwined in their own world, that Nyx felt himself a voyeur and intruder.

How dare they!

He wouldn't submit to envy. Lame, cutesy-couple-act wasn't his avenue. Nor should it be the chancellor's!

Didn't Ardyn have any pride as a man?!

How could he do those silly things? Wasn't he the least bit concerned with being laughed at?!

Luckily, the commotion of the soldier's approach hindered the lovers from hiding in the car. Imperatrix ended up being stolen for the second time but Nyx put on a good face for that one.

The chancellor didn't get to make out with the princess as he desired.

He mocked the man for the unnecessary pout but then straightaway wanted to punch him for the condescending look Ardyn's face naturally produced when talking.

Why did Imperatrix love him?!

"Your Highness, you've got to solve this dilemma for us! You know which one is best."

Her face was that of nostalgia as the princess set the item down. She was meant to play judge for trading cards depicting two very different stages of her life.

"This is perplexing. How can I possibly choose?" Imperatrix stood in the middle of the two feuding sides, overlooking both square art pieces.

In the red was an age of her dreams and ambitions.

Her primary steps towards greatness within the prestigious Julius Military Academy. Legends were groomed there.

She aspired to be as great as her beloved father but on the path of marching legions and not sailing fleets. Land, not sea called her to action.

Four years of academics in military guidance instead of the regular curriculum of teenagers in high school. A part of Imperatrix would never have that adventure, would never know the simplicity of civilian life. She would not begrudge her lineage for this theft, for the princess held more love than sadness towards her nation.

The golden trading card of armor was the culmination of Imperatrix's struggles.

Dreams of battle glory withered under the reality of how ugly and gruesome people with weapons in their hands could be. A battlefield birthed monsters from humans, testing the resolve of everyone that dared step foot in its domain.

Etro's province of death either broke children or forged adults.

More knowledgeable as a graduate, Imperatrix found a new aspiration: to never lose her compassion. Upon bodies and carcasses, foes and creatures, the princess vowed to never turn her back on what made her human.

As arduous as it could be, she would keep love in her heart no matter how great the darkness grew.

"I cannot choose. To pick one is to deny another aspect of myself." The princess slumped her shoulders helplessly. "I am both and choose both."

Groans chorused from the divided groups of troopers.

"What was the point in getting worked up over some cards? Who even collects something like this?" Nyx tensed, sensing the hazard.

He chanced view up. Way too many glares!

"Who is this guy?"

"How dare he disrespect our princess and our tradition!"

More and more verbal assaults were hurled at the glaive and Nyx backed up, anticipating a stampede. "What tradition? Are you seriously telling me you guys collect trading cards of your military officers?"

Smartly, he wouldn't add how they got the signatures of said military officers to his befuddled outcry.

"Yes, it became a fad around Father's time. The soldiers were enchanted and bored. From there, anybody of repute could find themselves on a card." Imperatrix explained, waving down her offended countrymen.

"Let me take a guess…you've got some too?"

"Of course!"

Nyx turned away from that beaming face. How could a pretty chick be so lame?

Appeals from the soldiers made the princess list off her collectibles, proudly smiling from each one spoken. The glaive tuned most of it out, vaguely picking out her retainer's names and the emperor's. The rest had him zoned out.

Lucian soldiers never did anything like this.

He'd heard of baseball fanatics doing something similar but why bother for the military? Weren't they essentially broadcasting to their enemies who were prized targets?

Cor would've loved to get his hands on those cards. They would've chopped off half his reconnaissance work. For a man born in Lucis, he spent more time in Niflheim than anybody Nyx knew.

No, wait…

Titus…was he Lucis born or Niflheim born? Everything about the man was up in the air now.

It was hard to decide who was real, the captain that he used to be second in command to, or the general that Imperatrix had obeyed.

"No way! You got him to sign it?! How?!"

Nyx spotted dozens of new cards on the table, some gold, some red and some white.

There was a color scheme going on for rarity but since he didn't know the people, there was no telling which color symbolized prestige. He would take a long shot and say gold was premier, hence why the one pushed into the middle stood out.

"Is that…" The glaive paused, silencing his exclamation at the soft clutch of his hand.

Imperatrix understood and had cautioned him.

"When I brought up the request, Master was extremely displeased. Training was merciless that day." The princess clenched her fist, re-imagining the sores from warding off Glauca's monstrous hits. "But when I was packing up my gear, I noticed the signature on my card."

Yes, the general was tough, cruel even but he gave her strength. There was a man behind the armor, capable of showing consideration.

A teacher of warfare and swordplay, Glauca was her master and she, his pupil. How sad that Imperatrix may never know him out of the armor.

Titus Drautos, a story lost to her.

"You're the only person to talk about that man like he was human." Aranea's lieutenant, Biggs Callux joined the boisterous group. "People in his legion were insistent a creature was under the armor and that's why he never took it off."

Newer cadets saluted and the veterans remained preoccupied. Since Imperatrix outranked him and was royalty, Biggs bowed in greeting.

"How strange. Neither you nor Kincaid were by Aranea's side earlier."

His eyebrows lowered heavily at the reminder of never-ending problems plaguing him. "Our airship keeps having mechanical issues that I have to solve."

Biggs's eyes leered around for the suspect.

"Has anyone seen the chancellor? These disturbances mysteriously coincide with his disappearances."

Inwardly, the princess shrunk. Why couldn't Ardyn stay out of trouble?

For what reason did he have to sabotage the Highwind, Aranea's pride and joy? Surely the imp could relate from his obsession with Vixen?

"I lost sight of him some time ago, Callux." Imperatrix admitted.

He stretched his lips into a frustrated frown.

Dying of curiosity, a newbie asked how the princess and lieutenant were acquainted.

"We attended Julius Academy together." Biggs decided to add more to prevent more questions. "Lady A and Wedge were there with me."

This had the opposite effect, inciting objections. No one believed him since there was an age difference between Imperatrix and the Highwind Trio. Wedge's attendance, they could believe with his one-year gap on the princess but Aranea and Biggs, who were in their thirties, didn't pan out.

"Have you all forgotten? There's no age distinction in admission. Anybody fourteen and over can attend the academy to be certified for military duty."

Boy was it jarring to be an adult surrounded by teenagers. Sticking to his mercenary buddies kept him on track and out of the mischief of stupid kids.

"You knew Impera when she was young?"

Biggs blinked at the unknown person and his impudent familiarity with the princess by abbreviating her honorific into a nickname. Not to mention how he stuck closely to Imperatrix's side.

The lieutenant couldn't put his finger on it…but he'd seen the man from somewhere.

"If you are angling for blackmail, then stop. I refuse to be culled by teenage misconduct." Imperatrix warned the glaive, who wheedled her attendants for the same reason.

She was more than open to telling him happy memories but no, Nyx had to mess with her. He just adored her pitiful moments.

Cad!

"Isn't it my job to know the history of the princess?" Nyx refuted with a superior air.

"The wrong one. Meddle into Lunafreya's past."

"Been there, done that. It's either dreary or depressing. She needs to live a little."

Imperatrix lost her spark, making the glaive believe she'd conceded when another notion troubled her. Was it better to have embarrassments than nothing at all?

"Nebula is the wrong person to ask because he evades with an 'I don't remember'."

More of her spirit was taken. How could Nebula recall memories that weren't his?

"Tempesta says she hated your guts in the beginning and everything during that phase was a blur."

Would Nyx shut up before her soul emptied?!

Biggs sent off the last of the inactive soldiers. He could tell the signs of a disagreement emerging from the definite jaw-clenching of the princess.

Who was this man to fuss with her? And why didn't Imperatrix berate him for his casual -borderline disrespectful- address of her?

Close companions could get away with speaking informally but the man wasn't one of the regulars in company with the princess.

"Ragnar, Ragnar, Ragnar! It is yours now, so stop complaining!"

The lieutenant was definitively lost, wondering why Imperatrix hurled a passport at her friend's head and sped off.

"She did it again!" Nyx picked up the booklet, flipping through the pages.

He knew what leaving his home entailed. He had accepted the consequences and even told the princess to quit badgering him when she continued asking if his decision to leave was final. The glaive chose but still felt stung by the loss.

Giving up everything for a princess was a movie plot.

"Why is this my life?"

Cancer and a pregnant girlfriend. He didn't foresee these series of twists.

Imperatrix relaxed her stride, gliding forward on the wings of a melodious song. She found Ardyn skipping pebbles on the lake as he sang.

He saw her out of the corner of his eye, causing the pebble to skip three times and sink as opposed to the eight of the previous throw.

"My Dearest." Ardyn dropped the rest of the rocks, reaching out for better entertainment.

She laced their fingers together, standing beside him.

In the reflection of the water, the chancellor saw Musa and a younger, less destructive version of himself. The illusion went sour with the reveal of his true daemonic visage.

Ardyn jerked his eyesight from the nightmare, hearing the cries of forsaken beasts. Their agitation arose from the lurking light magic.

"Are you well?"

"I'm alive." Needing a distraction, Ardyn leaned backward, dramatically searching for Nyx. "Have you lost your tail?"

"He has angered me twice. He can stay lost."

"You might want to lessen the fighting. It wouldn't do for you to lose him to old owners."

"What do you mean?"

"I did tell you a special guest was in store if you came, yes?"

"It was not Aranea?"

"You've confused my words." Ardyn took off his hat and pushed it all the way down on Imperatrix's head, obscuring her sight. "A nemesis or ally awaits, my dear. You've both arrived with identical goals."

"Stop it! What're you doing?!" The princess blindly attempted to wrestle the fedora off but a weighty hand kept it in place.

Multiple footsteps disturbed the flora of the area and low tones identified the newcomers as males.

Being blind to an encounter normally would have terrified Imperatrix. Ardyn, however, wouldn't deliberately leave her defenseless to danger. Whoever was coming couldn't be a mortal threat.

"Gentlemen, what a pleasant surprise."

"Told you he'd be waiting!"

A pitchy version of Nebula's voice? Was the prince's party here?!

"With my imperial friends, no less." With that, the chancellor lifted the veil over the princess's eyes and manuvered her to face the new company.

"Splendid."

Imperatrix locked eyes with the last speaker, inducing him to drop the confrontational air and protective stance in front of Noctis. She saw verdant behind lenses.

"But fear not. I'll put in a good word." Ardyn tilted his head towards her. "Princess, won't you vouch for them? My words pale in comparison to yours."

She slowly moved her eyes from Ignis to his two other comrades and then the chancellor. There was no point in rebuking him for trickery.

"Can I expect an armistice from you, Prince Noctis? If you plan on attacking this unit, I will not permit your entrance."

He didn't like the threat and scowled. "My plan didn't include that but I'm not opposed to it. I've gotten good at taking down imperials."

The death of Jared, Talcott's misery and Iris's relocation were all still on the minds of the boys. Good thing Gladiolus wasn't present because he would have opened with a fight and talked later.

Ever since the base encounter, the giant had it out for Ravus and by extension, Imperatrix since she assisted him and represented the head of everything Niff related.

"Now, now, children. Don't fight."

Imperatrix ground her teeth hearing Ardyn's admonishment for a second round. She wouldn't be patronized!

"Save the aggression for the underground, daemons love it."

Noctis sobered with a nod from Ignis. They had things to do; people were waiting on them.

"Fine. If no one bothers us, I won't bother them." The prince guaranteed.

"Good, good, that will make my job easier." Ardyn clapped and donned his hat. "Well, come along then."

He held out a hand for the princess, guiding her prudently through the grimy ground once she took it. For whatever reason, the boys were slow to follow.

Most likely sharing final misgivings about his trustworthiness. People were such doubters.

Not his lovely little wife though, she'd brave darkness for him. Amazing how she could love a fallen sinner like him.

"Don't stray too far, lest you get left behind." Ardyn called with an impatient check over his shoulder.

The annoying pitter-patter of splashing feet was an alternative to growling daemons. They never shut up around Noctis.

Death, death, all death with them. Death to the King of Light. They were so primitive and unoriginal.

"May I inquire why you all are a trio? Was there not a hulk of man as your vanguard?" Imperatrix held some relief at not seeing that one.

He and his great sword were a painful episode.

Her earlier threat was hasty. By herself, the princess couldn't fend off three magic users and the fourth, missing one, would've been laborious to hold back.

She must calm down her hot-head streak.

"Um, we can't say." Prompto said when no one else looked ready to respond, not even Ignis, who was typically the speaker of the group.

"Oh, dear. Touchy subject?" Ardyn jeered, hopping over a rock and splashing the two behind him.

Noctis's whining was a pleasure.

"One we won't discuss with you." Ignis practically snarled, shaking the excess mud off his pants.

"You are all dressed entirely wrong for this venture." Imperatrix remarked, pitying the boys in their royal fatigues.

One, they were too fine for a marsh. Two, they were too light for November weather.

Prompto and Noctis were shivering anytime they stopped. Ignis was the smartest, dressed in a full suit for warmth but still not wise in that he was damaging quality material by irresponsibly wearing it in the forest.

They were still new. Living inside a wall would ill prepare them.

"And you're doing much better?" Noctis snapped back, unimpressed with the white uniform top displaying Niff allegiance.

"I am acclimated to colder temperatures. My clothes do not need to be thick."

"Yeah, you guys are _cold-bloodied_."

"Why don't we discuss why you're here." Ardyn cut in before the boy dared lay more insults at his wife.

"That isn't up for discussion either." Ignis maintained as controlled an attitude as he could with his clothes periodically being dirtied from the chancellor's erratic stomp-splashes.

He ignored the advisor, stepping onto higher ground. Ardyn helped Imperatrix up after spying the signs of Ignis in preparation to do so.

Not yet. One suitor was enough to deal with for the time being.

Above the Lucians, the redhead pretended to hypothesize. "Hmm… It can't be archaeology…"

While the shortest of the brood jumped up to hold himself over the ledge, the chancellor took another crack at guessing.

"Mythril, perhaps?"

Prompto gasped, slipping off the ledge. Noctis caught him before the gunner fell into the water.

The blonde pointed. "This guy's reading our thoughts!"

"Unlikely, but it is suspicious how he knows." Ignis couldn't think of an explanation and instead focused on the less enigmatic imperial. "I have to assume that's why the princess is here as well."

She smiled, commending him in Latin. His lip twitched at the acknowledgment.

"Mythril. It's a precious resource, you see." Ardyn rotated, black coat billowing behind him as he continued his unique gait now that everyone was topside. "We can't just let anyone get their hands on it."

"But you'll help us get ours on it, right?" Noctis drawled, too used to the chancellor's antics.

He gasped, concealing a smirk beneath his fedora. "I never said that!"

"Of course you didn't." Prompto groused after tripping over a rock.

The boys were already having a miserable time and it tickled Ardyn's insides.

"Where's the fun in that? I thought you'd rather dig it up yourselves."

Cue the groans of petulant adolescents.

"Don't be like that. Even Her Highness is willing to do her labors."

"Really?" Prompto couldn't see a princess dirtying herself up in a cave for some ore.

"That face…" Imperatrix was glad Tempesta wasn't present, knowing the girl would pummel the gunner for the disbelief. "I am not a princess that sits still and looks pretty. Surely my capabilities were impressed upon you?"

Were she a prince like Noctis, there'd be no skeptics.

Prompt blushed, mouth gushing out incoherent sounds. Ignis took pity on him and interceded.

"Your fighting skills aren't up for debate. Rather, why are you doing the retrieval and not servants?" The advisor distinctively recollected the way she knocked him out.

An electric touch was meant to be a metaphor between lovers but the princess turned it into an actual occurrence between enemies. She quite literally left a mark on him.

"I have that option but I prefer to do it myself."

"That works in our favor, I suppose."

"How? It's gonna be dangerous." Prompto's worrying was both sweet and demeaning to Imperatrix.

"There's less likely to be foul play if the imperial princess is with us."

"Very true." She fanned her hand out towards the people down the hill. "But I assure you, the soldiers of this unit are not the type for underhanded schemes."

Not Aranea's wad of underdogs.

Most of the woman's subordinates were recruits with problematic portfolios. Slackers, disobedient glory-seekers and lone wolves; a purposefully bad blend with a few efficient members.

The admiral had a plan for Aranea.

"We'll take your vouching with a grain of salt." Noctis tried to stay cool and not get riled from the mass of white-uniformed flunkies totting magitek around.

He could feel magic prickling at the top layer of his skin, spiking up more of his hair and popping between his fingers. It was getting stronger by the day, to the point that the prince lived with his magic…like there was no distinguishing between it and him.

He was becoming something else…

"I'll need you three to stay here while I speak to the lady in charge." Ardyn shooed the boys back a few paces so they were hidden in the foliage.

"Don't you already have her approval?" Noctis bobbed his head at Imperatrix.

"Technically, she could pull rank but there's no reason to step on the commodore's toes. That's how one loses friends."

The prince wanted to call him out but chose not to. Time to put a hold on casting stones.

"Fear not. I'll be but a moment." Ardyn descended the hill, en route to a newly refreshed Aranea chatting with her lieutenant. "Take this opportunity for another reunion, there is plenty to come."

"Tell me it's not the guy with the metal arm." Prompto gulped.

"Ravus and I can pick up where we left off." Noctis balled up his fists, smothering the crackling magic.

Imperatrix rolled her eyes; she'd seen the electricity. "If he were, you would instantly lose."

"Not a chance. My Armiger would drop him."

"Not before Ravus electrocuted you."

"What?"

She moved her foot, creating ripples in the low pond they were standing in. "Water conducts electricity and you standing in a bog."

"Oh." Noctis lost all his hype and frowned with a minor streak of pink across his milk skin.

"You might also wish to think twice about summoning the Fulgurian in this terrain. And be mindful of electric-based attacks."

If Imperatrix saw that Astral strike down another group of her people, she might lose it. The gods gave her terrible nightmares and PTSD attacks.

The Six were a terror and they answered to a boy and girl's will.

"She's so right! Don't do it, Noct!" Prompto stressed, checking that skies were clear. "This isn't like the cartoons."

"I know, I got it!"

After cleaning his glasses of fog to clarify the picture of Imperatrix, Ignis cleared his throat. "Who did you call? I find it hard to believe there's someone in your company we would enjoy seeing."

The princess pocket her phone. "I could have called Lunafreya for all you know."

Noctis inhaled sharply, bounding up to her. "Where's Luna?"

Him looking up to her with a face too immature for loathing was humorous. She chewed her lip to not reveal her laughter.

"Should you not know? You both are in constant communication, little rex."

He faltered, heart dropping to his stomach.

"Where is the canine? Did you send him back?"

Umbra was waiting for them in the Regalia. The princess wouldn't do something to him, would she?

"Perish the thought! Umbra is the sweeter of the two. I would not harm him!"

Noctis still glared, face pinkening further than before. "Have you… You didn't look, did you?"

Imperatrix distanced herself from the boy, doting on him with a kind smile. "To transgress on young lovers…I would not."

As the princess saw Nyx on the move, she hummed a classic.

"Is she…singing?" Noctis questioned his advisor, who was fluent in multiple languages. "What's she saying?"

Ignis twisted the metal ring on the handle of his glasses. How best to translate?

He wasn't one for plays and operas —no time for them with his singular duty to the Caelums— but a teacher and king's budding romance was a well-known adaptation, played and performed at cultural festivals.

Hello young lovers…had Imperatrix been one?

Not important.

"Her Highness is teasing you, Noct." Ignis simplified.

The prince clicked his tongue, unable to retort from the language barrier.

Imperatrix's smile became melancholic with Nyx in front of her.

"You called, Your Highness?" The glaive snipped. "First, you walk away from me and now you whistle and I run? I'm not your servant, woman."

Rather than retaliate, she swiveled on her foot, opening the floor for another chance meeting.

"Nyx?"

His irritation faded for ground-shaking shock. Before the glaive was an equally ghost-faced prince.

"Nyx Ulric, you're alive." Ignis repeated, getting over the bombshell faster to analyze the new information. "And…with the imperial princess."

Ardyn planned this.

He bombarded Imperatrix with Noctis and Prompto; nemesis and ally could be applied to both. Most pivotal was the test for Nyx. The final one.

Nyx or Ragnar? One would win.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"What're you doing here, Dino? There are no diamonds to steal." Tempesta patted his coat pockets. "Unless you swiped some off the nobles."

"Cut it out! I have some pride, believe it or not!" The man shoved her off, fixing his coat back properly.

"Yeah, right, you goddam thief." She held up a ruby earring, grin so evil as she dangled the contraband in Dino's face. "I could arrest you. I've got the authority as a royal retainer."

"Go ahead and report the chancellor's secretary. Ravus would love the leverage." He played with the camera strapped around his neck. "But then…the info I got on Cor goes to waste."

His double job as a reporter came in handy for snooping. This girl trying to blackmail him was laughable; he was the master of manipulation.

Right after Ardyn.

"Tell me!"

Dino opened and closed his palm in response.

"You don't even gotta steal. Dandy pays you loads!"

Officially, his job was to be the chancellor's secretary. Unofficially, he did a lot of spy work; plus the side jobs of news reporting and jeweler extraordinaire.

Dino Ghiranze was a busy man.

"I have to maintain my dignity amongst my coworkers. You can't imagine the judgment I'd get for not having quick fingers." He returned the jewelry to its secure place, not all repentant for stealing.

It wasn't about the money but the technique. Maybe, a little about the money.

He studied Tempesta. "Where's Genius?"

She blinked, looking behind her. Two people were missing, her brother and the oracle.

"I could've sworn they were right behind me."

"You have tunnel vision as I've never seen before. And let me tell you, my hooded friends could write the book on it." The secretary shook his head, motioning to stacks of boxes. "Let's wait. He should be able to handle the short distance."

Dino lifted his camera, adjusting the lens to search for Genius. Tempesta made herself comfortable, instinctively inspecting the area.

Tents were set up for the citizens unable to lodge in Galdin from overcapacity. They were treating the incident like a day out camping. At least the settled ones were.

There were groups of people that looked like they just arrived and were shabbier than the rest. People were still trickling in from the destroyed settlements.

Tempesta could understand the prince's beef. Were the situations reversed, Gralea destroyed and Iedolas dead, she'd go around busting up Lucian bases.

Revenge was effortless to carry out but the aftereffects were something that could make somebody regret acting on the urge. Her vendettas against Furia tasted sweet as hell until Imperatrix moped in with the wounded disappointment.

Godamm her doe eyes.

The fist fighter still messed up small things and paid the price for it but big stuff that ruined people's lives…she was hesitant about doing. Didn't Noctis get that he was hurting his own people?

Not everyone that lived in the towns was an imperial. The nearby bases served as protection against daemons and monsters and regularly distributed supplies to the towns. Not everybody had a wall to hide behind.

And holy cow! Noctis killed a lot of people.

Over hundreds of soldiers burnt to a crisp by the prince summoning Rahmuh across the land. Tempesta was glad Imperatrix didn't get offed at that encounter.

None of them stood a chance against a kid that controlled gods.

"How have you not listened to a word I've said when you're the one who wants the information?!"

Tempesta dug a finger into her ear, sneering at Dino. "Quit screaming in that weird accent, jewel thief! Are you even a man with all that screeching?!"

He took a breath, twisting his wrist around. "Nope, not worth it. Stay your blade, Dino."

This chick was far from innocent though. Sybil would forgive him for the slip-up. She did it regularly with the chancellor.

"So, where's Cor?"

The secretary's wrist just about flicked to reveal a deadly blade from within his sleeve. The timely arrival of a panting scientist and energized oracle averted an "accidental death".

"I…made…it." Genius stomped over to his sister, wobbling in place as he took a page out of her book to rudely point. "I almost died because of you! We should've taken the bike!"

"If walking a mile slaughters you then you deserve it, midget." Tempesta raised a finger to Lunafreya. "You should be ashamed to be in worse shape than Lunar. Girl was locked in a palace all her life and is in better shape than you. Shame, shame, Izzy."

"I'm a scientist, not a fighter!"

"Get out of my face, loser." The middle Besithia whacked her brother to the ground, stepping over his body.

"Storm, you are being unkind. He did struggle to reach the encampment." Lunafreya bent to help the boy but he waved her off.

Genius flipped onto his back, lying prone with his birds circling worriedly above.

"Go be all goody-oracle to the citizens. That's why you came, not to lecture me."

Hurt streaked across the blonde's face. She thought they were on good terms. Why was Storm lashing out at her?

"Ignore her, she's known for being a piece of work." Dino grinned, glad to be dealing with a new story and introduced himself to Lunafreya.

"I feel as though I have heard your name before." She let herself be led to a table with charts.

"Well, on empire soil, I'm pretty well-known as Chancellor Izunia's assistant secretary, Sibyl's the main one. Crazy how he's got two while the royals manage with one." Dino continued rambling as he went through pages of paper and began removing items from the crates according to the manifesto. "Here in Lucis, people are more familiar with me as a reporter. It's hilarious how I lead double lives. The benefit of being an under-the-radar kind of guy."

Lunafreya nodded routinely throughout the small-talk and inventory check. Eventually, Genius rose to join them, separating the perishables and clothing for the citizens from the equipment for the soldiers.

Since the oracle extended her help, she was assigned to allocate items with Dino and the patrol. Their group took the necessary crates and went to the living quarters of the camp.

Tempesta didn't want to bother with her brother and his gadgets, so she wandered from the supply tent. Troops that recognized her called out for matches but the fist fighter boastfully denied them.

Genius couldn't collect data if she broke all his toys in five seconds from fighting guppies. She was doing both the snot and the soldiers a favor.

"When's he gonna show?"

A win in the afternoon would prove Tempesta could stand without her daemon. Her fist would solve things, not her claws.

She couldn't remember the last time they had an all-out brawl.

The potential for a lay often edged off Tempesta and left her uninterested in a fight…at least for a couple of hours. But by then, Cor just trounced her quick to be done with the ritual.

Ah, fighting and a lay…what a combination.

"I'm gonna kick his ass this time and make him my personal lion. Winners should get pets after all." Tempesta cackled, mind going wild with the thought of a collar on Cor.

That big, strong man under her boot just did it, unlikely as it was.

"Ah, he turns me on! It's not fair!"

Her whole body was itching now.

"Dammit!"

The baseless cravings of the body betrayed her! Why did Cor make her so hot?!

Her commotion drew the ire of some monsters. Swarms of Sparkshears either scurried over or popped up from the sand.

"What the hell? You jagweeds are huge!" Tempesta kicked one into a crowd of others, minimizing their efforts of surrounding her. "And I wanted to pound a human, not some hard-ass crustaceans!"

Punching the crab-things hurt her knuckles and with the frequency of the strikes, the girl's fist wasn't getting enough of a window to heal. Pained grunts were hissed out after each crack of an enemy shell.

There were too many of them!

Tempesta was forced backward with the sea at her back and Sparkshears at her front.

"If I had my gauntlets, I'd blow you all away."

Too bad she'd left them with the flunky to keep up the charade. Also, she assumed her only opponent would be Cor.

This was one of those moments were Nebula would berate her atrociously for being so moronic.

"Whatever. I can do this old-school. Some bloody knuckles and toes never killed anybody." Tempesta crackled her fingers, howling a battle cry and diving toward the parade of crab monsters. "Here I come, lobster soup!"

Only to lose her footing when a line of Sparkshears went flying. She caught herself, slowing into a walk to gape at the bisected remains falling to the ground.

"It's raining crabs! But how?!"

"Are you an imbecile? Don't dawdle in the middle of a battle!"

Capturing a speck of auburn hair made Tempesta holler. She chased after the figure engaging the Sparkshears.

"Cor!"

From the back, the man matched her mark in height, stature and hair color. His clothes were off though, being common, worn-out hunter garb that the marshal didn't wear.

Oh, no, no, no.

The immortal had to be in his equally immortal crownsguard fatigues at all times, even when undercover. A blatant reminder of his purpose and a slap to the face to any that had the audacity to challenge him.

Child-soldier bastard! He had no right to talk shit to her!

"I despise being confused for him."

Tempesta cocked her head to the side, awed that the man managed to level another set of monsters with a swing of his broadsword.

A broadsword? Definitively not Cor Leonis. Katanas were his thing.

This man wasn't using that cheat-code magic of the Lucians either. Rather, his sword busted out red energy…kind of like the color produced from magitek.

"Uh, who're you? Did you steal that sword from Izzy?" Tempesta recognized a little of Not-Cor's sword style.

He must've recognized hers too from how he was regulating his strikes to the fist fighter's lunges. She took out the smaller sections missed from the man's wide-range attacks.

Not once did Not-Cor enact any of that save-the-damsel-in-distress bull that a typical guy would when stumbling on her situation.

Brownie points awarded.

"Titus and stop getting distracted."

Okay, not a talker but a not a total jerk.

The beachside became littered with decimated Sparkshears.

"Oh, man. I'm gonna have an amazing dinner tonight!" Tempesta hooted, mouth watering in anticipation of all the dishes that could be cooked from this amount of crab.

They could feed a buttload of people in the encampments.

"What're you doing out here, Tempesta?" Titus swiped his sword, scattering blood and then used a stripe of cloth to clean the blade. "Why aren't you with the princess?"

"She asked me to look after Temple because Ravus is an asshole." The fist fighter sat on a dead crab, slapping her leg as she laughed. "Furia got what she deserved with him as a husband. That stuck-up bitch."

He disregarded the mini-rant and instead focused on the tide.

For days, creatures of the sea had risen from the depths to attack. Combined with the monsters native to Galdin Quay, the army was having a tough time splitting forces between defense and assistance of the citizens.

Whittling down the enemy was not Titus's responsibility anymore. Glauca wasn't the general.

Yet…he fought off the monsters each time, disappearing before any imperials could approach. His hit and runs began the rumors of Cor's arrival.

From a distance, he and the immortal might appear the same but it was beyond foolish for any of them to believe a field marshal of Lucis would get soft for Nephilims.

Cor wouldn't aid any of them.

"I just realized this but how did you know my name?"

Titus groaned at the tenacity of this girl. He'd ditched her numerous times since the battle but the retainer consistently sprung up behind him to run her mouth.

"How are you still following me?"

She grinned broadly. "I've got the stalking skills of a predator. I've chased down someone far more elusive than you."

He knew the context of what Tempesta was bragging about —her daemon genes would make her an excellent tracker— but someone else would've been unnerved.

"Here's some advice, Tempesta. Don't ever say that again." Titus side-stepped the girl. "Just because you're female doesn't mean you'd get away with stalking."

"Oh, that too!" She jogged after him. "Why do you talk like you know me? Cause I don't know you."

"I'll let you figure it out."

Titus wasn't sure if he wanted that. Imperatrix would be the first to know of his existence then.

Her parting words were still with him. Titus or Glauca?

Returning to his homeland had given somewhat of an answer for him but it wasn't "the answer", the one that could be a man's awakening. The fallen general was still confused, still defeated.

He couldn't face Imperatrix.

"Wait…are you?" Tempesta threw up a hands in front of Titus to make him stop.

"What?"

She fidgeted and a slight blush painted her face, which in collaboration with the freckles could charm someone that didn't know her. Something like this must've been ammo to Cor.

The opposite was true for Titus. He wouldn't fall for it.

"Have we been together? Is that it?" Tempesta stuck her hands in the backs of her pockets and scuffed her shoe into the sand. "I mean, I would remember your type. But it could've been a bad day."

So much rage and contempt had his blood boiling. He could feel the liquid magic attempting to form his sword in response to his emotional spike.

"Ah, that's not an insult to you! You're decent in looks and skill. Impera and Neb keep telling me I need to get it together but it's hard!" She kicked up a huge amount of sand. "I didn't ask for life to be so shitty! A person can only put up with so much without losing it."

"How can you be stupid and smart? I greatly underestimated Imperatrix's patience." Titus almost knocked into Tempesta in his rush to leave.

"H-Hey, I get you're mad but c'mon! I'm sorry I forgot you!"

"Shut up! You're completely wrong!"

And Titus wished to know no more of Tempesta's intimate life. She'd already confirmed his long held suspicion of Cor's liaison with her.

Confusing him for the immortal and then specifying him as her type? She could be charged with treason for fraternizing with the enemy.

"I know it was wrong of me but I won't do it again, Tye...Tim…Turtle… Umm…"

" _Titus_." He reiterated heatedly. "And stop following me!"

The man wouldn't be able to go back to his tent at this rate. If Tempesta knew where it was, she'd blab to Genius and have the whole army hunting him.

The worst scenario featured Lunafreya confronting him. He wanted to deal with her even less than Imperatrix.

"That's a Gralean name. Are you one of these refugees? What're you doing out—"

The rapid-fire inquiries would stay unresolved as the fist fighter flew to the ground from Titus shoving her. She'd have cursed him out but seeing the man subsequently almost decapitated earned him some slack.

Moving her eyes onto the attacker made Tempesta miss a breath.

"C-Cor?"

Two redheads were absorbed with killing each other, whipping up sand with ferocious attacks that made metal screech discordantly.

He was here! Her arch-nemesis was right in front of her.

The bell had to toll! Tempesta promised!


	26. Chapter 26

**French**

 **Chacun voit midi a sa porte** \- Everyone sees noon at their doorstep. (People are self-absorbed or believed they're right)

 **Inutile de discuter** \- It's useless to argue.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"I'll kill you!" Tempesta had forgotten how many times she issued the same threat to the mystery woman but they just kept coming out her mouth.

Violent, violent urges kept clouding her mind every time this enemy so much as breathed. This too-attractive woman with slick moves shouldn't be anywhere near Cor. She was right around his age from the looks of it and had a mature air to her from the professional bob and crownsguard uniform.

This woman was the total opposite of Tempesta.

"How dare he! I won't stand for a crappy stand-in!"

Cor belonged to Tempesta and her alone!

"Monica!"

Hearing the immortal's yell led to the fist fighter spinning on her heel to kick the woman out of sight. She bounced a few times before slowing into a roll. Even though Cor was tied up in a sword fight with Titus, he still tried to run to his comrade's aid. Tempesta reached the woman first, leaping up for a finishing punch.

"You can die, you reject!"

Unfortunately, her fists only managed to put a dent in the sand instead of a face as the woman disappeared seconds before the impact.

"What the hell?" She kicked up sand. "Where the hell did the bitch go?!"

Instant pain registered in her shoulder and the fist fighter whipped around, seeing Monica flitting from place to place. The woman had warped away from her previous attack.

"Ugh, give me a break with that cheating magic!"

With the knives endlessly reforming, the Lucian had the upper hand in ranged fighting. She could fling the weapons at a target and then use them warp to a new position to avoid detection. Typical cowardly Lucian tactics. They just couldn't fight on their own merits.

Cheaters!

"When I get my hands on you, you're gonna regret showing up here." Tempesta hated being on the defense, ducking and dodging like some sissy. "Quit it!"

While the knives were cutting her, they healed fast enough that it was just a minor annoyance to endure this petty assault. What was pissing her off was how torn her clothes were getting.

This outfit was one of Tempesta's scarce modest ones!

"You thrive in close combat but your long-range is nonexistent." Monica drew on more of her reserves, summoning forth a Royal Arm. "A fatal mistake!"

Star of the Rogue; a privilege granted to her as the Brigadier of Crownsguard. King Regis bestowed the honor on her and Prince Noctis re-instated it. This shuriken would defeat all the enemies of Lucis!

"Holy fuck!" Tempesta barely dodged a beheading by curling backward in a way most people wouldn't be able.

Internally, she gave thanks for Imperatrix making her do all those yoga poses and gymnastic moves. Flexibility saved her ass. Her happy puff of relief was short-lived though as she heard the weapon coming back.

"C'mon, this isn't fair!"

The shrunken had a mind of its own, curving unexpectedly when the fist fighter aimed to outsmart it again. The spikes caught her on the hip and she fell to her knees.

"Damn, damn, dammit!" Tempesta covered the bleeding area with her hands, completely sidetracked by the pain. "It hurts!"

Down to her bones, the fist fighter could feel the light magic stinging her in a way she'd never felt before. Inside the depths, the daemon was in just as much agony, roaring with her. Tempesta could hardly tell the difference between their voices.

"I've never seen someone react so violently to the Royal Arms." Monica unconsciously covered her mouth, losing the momentum for her attacks at the sight of the girl's festering wound.

The brigadier almost felt bad for attacking a girl half her age but then she spat out a slew of vulgarities towards her and Monica remembered how underestimating her enemy had resulted in something fractured. No matter how innocent the blonde might look, she was a Niff and a strong one.

There would be no more underestimating her based on looks. No more consideration would be given because the female looked frighteningly similar to Prompto.

"Damn Lucian magic." Tempesta swung her head to shake out her frazzled hair and regretted it.

Her sight went loopy and she heard a ringing.

"I'm gonna pay you back for that, harpy."

Not just the wounds, her ruined clothes had a bone to pick with the bob-haired hag. She'd been reduced to a vagabond in ripped jeans, a shredded jacket and a ratty shirt.

She'd fight through the pain. At some point the gash would heal, her genes never failed. The daemon wanted its host to live after all.

"You shouldn't be moving with those wounds." Monica twirled a knife between her fingers, powering it up with light magic.

"Oh, no you don't!" Tempesta pounced faster than the human eye could perceive, kneeing the woman in the stomach. "I've had enough of your tricks!"

Monica plunged a knife into the fist fighter's leg as she tried to flip her, landing on her hand and flipping into battle position. Their legs collided in a series of spins and each time, the brigadier hissed from the impacts. The same amount of pain accompanied any punches that she attempted to block.

She had to put distance between them.

Tempesta hopped over a sweep of the woman's legs, cartwheeling away from a hastily summoned shuriken. She was forced back from a series of them flying towards her. Believing that Monica was controlling the trajectory of the projectiles, the fist fighter kicked a wave of sand in the woman's direction.

The blades did skitter off course and Tempesta covered the distance so that the spinning spikes of death weren't just her in the path.

"This girl isn't human!" Monica used the shuriken as a shield but still got propelled back from the punch.

She stabbed the weapon into the ground, stopping her flight. From here, the brigadier controlled the weapon to spin around her in a circle, generating a tornado of sand to distract Tempesta.

"You're like a goddamn ninja! Just fight already!"

Monica used the cover to catch her breath as she moved behind the enemy.

This level of speed and strength were beyond the capabilities of many of her comrades. She was the second strongest soldier in the Crownsguard after Cor. How could she be floundering against this civilian?

Did the Niffs just make child-soldiers out of everyone? This was insane!

"Stop using the Star, Monica!" Cor broke from his match with Titus to fend off Tempesta.

Both women were in bad shape but the fist fighter had a tenacity to her that made up for the grievous wounds. With the Royal Arm pitted against bare fists, Monica had the advantage but her weapon required large amounts of vitality. She couldn't keep up and if the immortal hadn't intervened, Tempesta would've punted her into the sea.

"Sir, I'm fine." The brigadier insisted in between heavy breaths, moving beside him instead of behind.

The shuriken flickered in form, going from corporeal to glassy in an unstable pattern.

"Switch out weapons, that's an order." Cor glared at his second-in-command.

Her obedience stirred up conflict in his conscience. There was worry present for both females and terribly enough…Tempesta's state tore at him sharply while Monica's was a brief worry.

He was a disgrace to the Lucian army.

"Again? You're defending that harpy?" Tempesta growled, menacing gleam returning to her eyes. "You're ticking me off, you asshole!"

"Enough of your screaming, banshee." Titus yanked the girl back by the coat, effectively tearing it off her.

She gasped, going red in the face. "Hey, don't go stripping me! This ain't the time!"

"Focus!" He rolled his eyes at the preemptive step the immortal took in response to Tempesta's outburst.

Their romantic issues had wreaked havoc on this battle. This was the most pathetic assassination attempt Titus had ever witnessed and he'd seen plenty from serving two kings under different identities.

The immortal was one of the few people that could challenge Titus with the hope of winning and he didn't even get to fight Cor properly because the man was so preoccupied with his two feuding flames. How disappointing.

How in the world did Tempesta and Monica even end up meeting? The world had a morbid sense of humor at times. Which suited Titus just fine because other people's miserable misfortunes were amusing to witness.

Particularly the misery of those with reputable reputations. The repercussions of their mistakes caused such damage to them, more than a blade ever could. Warfare tactics were all around and in constant motion.

"Yeah, that's the way!" The fist fighter cheered in mid-leap as Monica got battered into her range by Titus's sword. "Payback time, harpy!"

The brigadier took a critical hit, blacking out as she hit the ground. Tempesta stood victorious over the woman, cackling with her fists over her hips.

"Sucks that I needed a change in atmosphere to finally put you down." She sulked at the moon. "But that's what I get for forgetting my gear. Neb would never let me live down if he were here."

Done with the trash, Tempesta stepped over Monica.

For all her death threats, she didn't kill the broad. Her medical bills were going to be mighty high though. All that hacking meant some ribs were broken and some other places were probably in the same shape from the woman blocking attacks way out of her league.

"She sure did a number." Tempesta poked at the blue portion of her arm where another gaping gash was.

The multiple injuries were at last healing under night's vigil. The process was slow though and she could feel her body trying to repair itself. After dealing with instant healing for so long, the fist fighter had forgotten what it was like to be in pain as a regular human.

"How do they deal with it?!"

Her back hurt the most and was still bleeding. Feeling blood slide down her back made the blonde shiver and reach behind, getting sand on the mutilated flesh and restarting a fresh wave of torment.

She was a mess!

"Quiet down…" Tempesta mumbled to her daemon, footsteps slowing from the surge of loopy weightlessness.

No…wait.

This wasn't like a drug high…this was more like the crashes she experienced after eating too much candy. The rush of battle was disappearing and the veil between her and daemon was slipping.

It was so close.

"What reason did you have to betray Regis?!" Cor's shout made Tempesta jolt up and her skin tingled.

The two males in a deadlock were exuding a bubble of intensity, blue and red sparks exploding all over the place. They sincerely wanted to kill each other.

Woah! This was like an expert-level boss battle!

"He took you in and gave you a home. You were the Captain of Kingsglaive! Why did you do it?!"

Titus swung his greatsword, hitting his opponent's katana with enough force to launch him into the air. "Don't project your tragic tale of being an orphan on me!"

He launched after the man, unleashing a barrage of strikes against the immortal. Each one was met with a clash of magic that dulled his blade and had Titus pumping out his blood to repair the damage.

The slightest fault in his weapon could welcome death. He had to continue supplying the liquid metal with his life-force.

"I was never loyal to that weak man!"

"Weak?" Cor spun once on the ground, speeding forward in an assault. "Regis was anything but!"

The Katana of the Warrior greedily absorbed the energy he was willing to provide, glowing in all its splendor. For this opponent, the immortal wouldn't abstain from the king's magic.

Titus was unworthy of mercy.

"Regis was the strongest person alive, that's why you cowards infiltrated Insomnia and destroyed it!" He ducked under the traitor's next swing, taking the opening at his chest without a second thought. "Did you come up with the plan, General Glauca?!"

As if reacting to the name, a section of armor materialized to protect the area Cor sliced at. The immortal released a wave of magic, pushing Titus back. Once the dust settled, he saw a fully armored Niff.

"How could a man wasting away in the shadows be strong?" Titus's voice had taken on the deep edge of his second persona. "The strong stand in battle, not hide behind others."

Liquid metal combined with magitek; it could counter Lucian magic. Without it, he wouldn't be continuing the battle as blue flames licked at his armor. Niflheim had come a long way in creating countermeasures against their greatest foe.

Nyx had heavily damaged Titus's armor and it no longer shined as it once did, nor functioned as well. But this coat of metal was him. He would fight and die in it.

"Regis gave up on this world. Or, maybe he realized how he'd failed as a king. Just remember all the soldiers that turned on him!"

"Shut up!"

"How great could he have been if so many betrayed him?"

"I said shut up, you filthy Niff!"

Talk was over.

Red and blue showered over the beach. Yells cracked the air, sand exploded everywhere and waves crashed upon the sand. Tempesta's hand trembled with excitement as she recorded the match on her phone.

Amazing! Video games could draw inspiration from this!

No wonder the big guy's style was so familiar. He was Imperatrix's teacher! She'd stumbled on the AWOL general.

"And I finally know what he looks like! Wait till I tell Impera."

Tempesta could demand a reward for this discovery. Yeah! Luck was on her side.

"You're one to talk about betrayal. Does Monica know about your relationship with a Niflheim officer? And one so close to the imperial princess?"

She choked on her giggles, abruptly drawn out of her fantasy of a princess's kiss. The fist fighter announced her denial of involvement but nobody cared.

"I should be taking pointers from you on how to play both sides. Women tend to be the hardest creatures to fool." Titus's downward strike on Cor's blade produced a crater around them. "But I wouldn't be foolish enough to have both women in a confrontation."

Tempesta lowered her phone, ending the video recording. "Monica…and Cor?"

She looked over her shoulder at the unconscious woman.

"Stay out of my business!" The immortal's vertical swing cut through the ground as it traveled towards Titus.

"Then don't bring it to the battlefield!" He poured life into his blade, wave after wave of red erupting out to withstand the force of magic attempting to overtake him.

Titus hated the Royal Arms and their abilities.

"Get out of my way, Titan!"

Unbelievable to his eye, the general witnessed Tempesta charge straight into the flood of magic and dispel it from the shroud of darkness around her.

"It's Titus." He corrected.

His mood for battle had dipped low. Under the moon, the girl had lost her mind. The daemon inside her had taken control.

Nothing else could explain the dark magic.

"Just as I said. Personal affairs should be kept out of battle." The general absorbed the armor and sword back into his body.

From the mounting darkness overtaking the beach, the immortal would die by Tempesta's hand. Killed by a jealous lover, what a feeble way to enter the underworld.

"Don't turn your back on me, traitor!" Cor tossed a kunai at Titus's retreating figure while caught in a deadlock with Tempesta. "Get back here and fight!"

The general tilted his head, nimbly avoiding the projectile. Out of respect for a fellow warrior of acclaim, he stopped to respond.

"Why bother with me when you have a more important adversary in front of you? But then, you've always been blind."

"Hear that, Cor? Keep your eyes on me, or die!" Tempesta's strength spiked and magic enveloped her arm to form a claw that tore through the immortal's guard.

With the Royal Arm temporarily expelled, Cor stumbled backward, clumsily summoning his original blade to use as support. He bent over, shocked by the blood coming out of his chest.

She cut him.

"You pushed me. It's your fault!" Tempesta's animalistic instincts had come to the forefront.

Kill, kill, kill.

The queen of the pride wanted blood and she was inclined to give it. Cor had demeaned her enough, undervalued her enough and caused her enough anguish. This was the last straw.

Tempesta was supposed to be the only woman. She was _the_ woman! How dare he. How dare he!

Didn't he love her? Wasn't that what the bastard wanted to say last time?! It was a lie. Nothing more than lip service to get her to do what he wanted.

She knew it. She knew he couldn't love her! It wasn't possible; daemons couldn't have love.

"Tempesta, get ahold of yourself! If you go too far, you can't come back!" Cor couldn't bear to see her in this state.

Yellow eyes of a daemon, an aura of dark magic, an inky layer of skin overtaking human flesh, claws and fangs. Less a woman and more a creature. Namely, one acting on pure instinct.

He'd never seen so much of a transformation before.

"Shut up! Maybe, I don't wanna come back! Maybe, I'll go into oblivion!"

More and more tendrils of black were emerging around Tempesta.

"See? Focus on the bigger issue, Leonis." Titus kneeled to retrieve the cause of the fist fighter's meltdown.

Monica had accompanied the field marshal like a good little flunky. Smartly, she remained out of the showdown between him and Cor. Dumbly, she tangled with Tempesta.

Getting stabbed in the leg and cut all around wasn't grounds for a murder spree but finding out that man had prior relations with another woman was. Her reaction was understandable but timid. Tempesta left Monica alive.

Titus would have killed both the offenders in a rage. But who he had in mind would never do something so asinine.

"Get away from Monica!"

Titus needn't worry. The immortal barely got an inch closer to him before a mad cat pounced.

"You're fortunate I'm no longer in military service." He unceremoniously tossed Monica so that she'd be out of range of the lover's quarrel. "Otherwise, I'd have to kill you all."

Although, the brigadier looked half-dead already.

"I'll be leaving now."

Cor yelled at his missed opportunity for justice. He failed to avenge Regis, Clarus and everyone that died while he was off tailing the prince. Titus killed so many of his comrades and he allowed the man to escape!

His frustration blinded him into executing a deadly slash in defense, forgetting who his real opponent was. A scream snapped Cor into focus.

Blood pooled at his feet, hardening the sand as it absorbed the liquid.

"Tempesta?" His hand hovered in the air, wanting to reach forward a few more inches to sink the tangled mess of blonde hair.

"It hurts." She whimpered, holding her nearly severed arm together.

The immortal wanted to vomit.

There was too much blood and more disturbing was how it wasn't red but black. Everything unnatural about her appearance acutely reminded Cor of how underneath the surface, Tempesta wasn't human. Experimentation had taken that from her.

He'd seen glimpses of this side of her and brushed it off. She could be violent and petulant but Tempesta was a woman at heart. Something small and precious that he always wanted to protect.

But now…

Now he couldn't see the kitten that curled around him and made the world so simple.

"Why does it always hurt with you?!" Tempesta wailed, arm stitching itself back as more and more miasma generated around her in a barrier.

Cor flinched and his foot slid. He was too stunned to stand back up. All thoughts of battle protocols had fled his mind.

Shadowed by the darkness with her features morphed and golden eyes glinting, Tempesta loomed over the immortal. She had become one of the bedtime terrors parents told their children.

"I want it to stop!" Her distorted voice was followed by a detonation of magic.

Years of training had Cor rolling to his feet into a defensive position but his heart wasn't in it. His grip was lax on his katana. He stood, as destruction headed for him, mind removed from reality.

Tempesta's attacks were that of a stampede, trampling Cor and his sword till both were on the verge of breaking. He couldn't retaliate.

Nothing about this was like any of their previous fights. Where had his Tempesta gone? Who was this crazed creature? How could Cor get his kitten back?

If he even deserved her back. She'd been lost since childhood and it was his fault. He didn't save her. The first impression Cor left on Tempesta was abandonment and he continued that pattern over the years.

How was the immortal any better than that loathsome scientist, Verstael Besithia?

"Tempesta, stop!" Cor kicked the fist fighter back.

Deceived by her stillness, he approached her.

"Kit—"

Her clawed hand enlarged and struck. Cor's beloved katana of many years snapped in the last defense of its master.

"T-Tem…pes…ta…" He fell to his knees, spasming from his wounds and the black spots of miasma eating at his skin.

Fuck. Could this infect him with Starscourge?

"I'll be your death."

Those claws dragged in the sand, blackening everything they touched. She promised carnage with a smile.

"If it's you…then I accept. I'd rather be killed by love than hate."

She wasn't attacking this viciously for any other reason. He couldn't expect any different from an emotional person like her. In some ways, it made her childish and in some, braver than anybody.

Where did it come from? Who managed to dig out the good that Verstael tried to eradicate? And how could he do it, too?

"Die, Immortal Cor Leonis." Tempesta took the last step for the killing blow, unknowingly hitting something with her shoe.

A tinkle of a bell stopped everything.

The immortal picked up the memento, freeing more of its soft sounds.

"Maybe I'll reunite them in Etro's land."

So many nights he dreamed of what could have been. From him and Tempesta, a child born of love. An innocent life he would've given the world to.

He would've made sure that the child grew up with parents and knew how wanted they were. The loneliness of their parent's childhoods would never have been their life.

"It's your fault they're gone!" Tempesta cradled her head, warring with the daemon for control.

"I know. It's one of…no, it's my biggest regret. What kind of father kills their child?" Cor squeezed his palm shut, smothering the chimes so ill-fitting with the gravity of their situation. "I always say you're the toxic one but truthfully, that's me. I'm the fuck-up that never owns up to his mistakes."

After their last encounter, he'd resolved himself to killing Tempesta, the mother of his late child. When faced with the opportunity, the immortal faltered. Cor was an imbecile for ever believing he could kill her.

From the beginning of Tempesta's obsessive fixation on him that led to their first fight, she was a permanent feature of his life. It was extremely messed up for him to find comfort in a girl periodically attempting to murder him but stability was a hard thing to find for a foster kid.

Somewhere in between the spats, he wondered if it wasn't obsession but love that compelled the fist fighter and she simply didn't know to communicate it. Either one of those sentiments could eradicate sanity.

"I wish more than anything that I could change the past. That I had shattered the glass wall and taken your hand. That I had taken you home with me when you told me about the pregnancy." Cor was finding it harder to breathe and even more difficult to see. "An immortal like me…has so many regrets."

"I don't want to hear this!"

Cor only manage to prop himself halfway up by the elbow after another hit knocked him down. His body was shutting down.

"You never want to hear anything good from me, you're too used to the bad. That's my fault too." The immortal blinked, unsure if he was imagining Tempesta changing back to normal. "I've messed you up so badly. I'm sorry, kitten."

Tempesta was crying so hard that she choked. The daemon wouldn't rest.

Murder, murder, murder! She didn't want to do it anymore! She didn't want to kill Cor!

"Stop it!" The immortal demanded, ignoring his condition to drag himself closer to the woman bashing her head against the ground.

"Don't come near me!"

A warning shot of magic served as a deterrent.

"I made that mistake once. I won't do it again." Cor managed to get to his feet and began a sluggish, unsteady walk to Tempesta.

She dug her face into the sand, all but curling up in an effort to disappear into the earth. Her shrieks to be left alone were refused. The immortal ventured into the black miasma, flinching from whips of magic attacking him. He continued walking, every step bringing him deeper into the darkness but closer to the light that was Tempesta's brilliant hair.

"I want you to go away!" She whimpered out.

"No, you don't." Cor fell onto Tempesta, weakly wrapping his arms around her.

Magic beat at his back and a voice beat at his chest but the immortal wouldn't let go. He would die like this if necessary.

"I love you, Tempesta. Don't let the night take over." Muddled on pain, Cor clung to his linchpin. "Don't stop being you."

Watching Tempesta become a daemon was the most frightening experience of his life. His exuberant spitfire should never be reduced to a mindless beast.

"You're…the fucking worst."

Cor touched his forehead to the back of her head, holding on till the shaking and weeping stopped. Then he carried on the embrace for the simple sake of wanting to hold love.

Waves oscillated on the beach and the moon illuminated the lovers. What was once a battlefield was now a peaceful scenery.

Tempesta finally moved from her fetal position and Cor kept a firm grip on her forearms to keep them close. Her eyes burned, her head hurt and her skin ached all over.

She felt absolutely shitty and emotionally drained.

"Kitten?"

The endearment made her recoil.

"Tempesta, look at me."

She didn't. The fist fighter had no desire to see the damage done to him. Not just Cor, Tempesta jacked Monica up pretty badly as well.

Shame and disgust like this hadn't hit her this hard since she left the Besithia mansion. A storm came upon the beach; Tempesta dishonored herself and everything Imperatrix instilled in her.

Cor pulled the blonde back into his chest, petting her head. "I love you, that hasn't changed."

"No, you don't. You can't love a monster."

"Don't tell me how to feel."

She scrunched up in his hold, fists balling up his shirt. Tempesta couldn't decide on pushing him away or letting him stay right where he was.

This…was what she wanted; for Cor to be hers. Not like this though.

"Look at what I did. At what I am!"

Cor saw a woman clenching her fists so tightly that blood seeped out from the nail marks and was still sobbing her eyes out. He reiterated these observations out loud.

"No, no! Quit looking at me like that. Look at me how you did when I changed!"

He un-balled her fists, wishing that Tempesta would outgrow the habit of self-harm just because she healed.

"You're a human that made a mistake. It happens." Cor ran a finger over where he harmed her. "I almost severed your arm. We've both messed up for the day."

Her arm bore minimal signs of the attack. That wretched barcode now had a thin line through it and that was a scar he wouldn't lose sleep over.

"I've never…I…" She couldn't formulate the experience into words.

How did someone explain potentially losing their sense of self?

"You're back, kitten. Don't lose yourself again." Cor resumed petting her on the head.

"I won't." Tempesta vowed, etching the words inside her in an absolute mantra.

She'd never let the daemon consume her again. Never give in to her darker emotions. It was horrifying to be so out of control.

"Good girl."

"Let go already." Tempesta mumbled out, scowling with a blatant blush. "And quit being all nice!"

Cor regretted every harsh word and action thrown her way by him. He wanted nothing more than to erase them all, never having ruptured the fist fighter's self-worth. To never let this little strike of spirit ever know the grief of abandonment again.

These were impossible hopes. They were on opposite sides. A fool could still try though.

"Cor?" Tempesta called because of how the man was leaning heavily on her.

His lack of response and pinched face alarmed the fist fighter. She wrapped her arms around Cor's waist, lifting him with an ease unexpected for a woman her size.

"Hey, I'll get you out of here. Don't keel over yet!"

"Shh, kitten." The way he leaned into Tempesta sent them back to the ground. "I have to make sure first."

"W-What?" She squeaked, flustered by Cor's proximity to her face.

"You have to know."

Whatever the immortal wanted to express went over Tempesta's head. How was she supposed to focus with him kissing her? What had come over him?

Was death making him act so…so…like them?

Ardyn and Imperatrix were like this. He always wanted to sneak kisses with the princess when no one was looking or put his arms around her. The chancellor did these things without the presumption of sex following. The two would just sit there cuddling or talking for hours.

It both confused and bored Tempesta to watch them. When people touched it was for the purpose of physical relations. Otherwise, things didn't work out.

So how did Ardyn and Imperatrix manage to last for so many years? How could she do that with someone?

Had Tempesta somehow stumbled on the secret?

Cor was kissing her but that was it. His hand wasn't groping along her body, frantic in the goal of ripping off clothing. She couldn't feel his arousal pressing on her either. There was no heat consuming them or even felt in the kiss.

This was the softest it had ever felt. Were they like the chancellor and princess now?

No way. Cor didn't love her. He couldn't!

"Tempy!"

The immortal and fist fighter jerked away from each other.

"Izzy?" Tempesta looked around for her brother but didn't see him.

She did spot the roving lights in the distance that signified a search party. Vaguely, she picked up the noise of the soldiers, despite how far away they were.

"Tempy!"

The caller revealed itself to be one of Genius's birds. Red soared down to circle them, chirping out Tempesta's name in its creator's voice.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you, birdy." She held out her palm, grinning when the bird landed on it. "So much for not caring if I died in a ditch, twerp."

Red tilted its head around, flapping its wings in excitement. "Found Tempy. Sending location."

"Woah! You've gotten smarter!"

She didn't know the AI could speak words, let alone in sentences. Mostly the birds made sounds and occasionally squeaked out a name.

Genius sure had a knack with machines. He could make all her anime and video game dreams come true! She definitively had to steer him in the right direction for production.

"I have to go." Cor announced, struggling to his feet but doing it nonetheless.

"Go then." Tempesta muttered without another glance at him. "I'll keep them here."

Sensing the man still behind her, she craned her neck around to see what the problem was. Too quickly to fathom, he reached down to pat her on the head.

"We're not done. I have more to say to you."

Before Tempesta could get a word in, his lips dropped a final kiss on top of her head. All too soon the moment was over. Cor slipped from her world as if he was never there.

Red pecked at her legs, reminding the girl people were on the way to retrieve her.

No one should find her, not like this.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"Tempy!"

A head of silver peeked over the hill. Tempesta numbly observed her brother stumble down the slope and jog towards her. She barely reacted to him shaking her by the shoulders, insisting on a status report.

Fuzzy. Her hearing and sight had gone fuzzy. She felt paralyzed…or maybe her limbs were just too tired to function.

Things were getting darker.

"How did this happen?" The scientist snatched off his beamers, ruby eyes trained on the black splotches corroding his sister's skin. "Why do you have advanced Starscourge?!"

Where Red was still perched don her leg, Tempesta could see the spots spreading. She was rotting. Now the outside matched the inside; monstrous.

Didn't Cor notice? How could he have kissed her when she looked like this?

"Did you lose control?!"

Tempesta jerked, slinking into the sand. If only it were quicksand.

"Tempy, you're so foolish!" Genius shook her harder, illogically experiencing the shakes himself. "How could you?! You know what happens to those that snap!"

The fallen ones. None of the clones ever wanted that label applied to them. Those to fall prey to their daemons, losing all sense of humanity, were hunted down and executed, no questions asked.

Verstael Besithia had no use for uncontrollable daemons, no matter how powerful they were.

Tempesta was heading onto the route of a high-level daemon. Which meant Genius would have to kill her. The thought iced his veins and disrupted his breathing pattern.

" _Keep them back. No one is to breach the circle."_ The scientist relayed into the walkie, uncaring of the arguments posed by Imperatrix's lieutenant. " _Anyone that enters runs the risk of a Code Black."_

His warning alarmed the soldier more but he didn't have time to listen.

"Red, add fire!"

The bird flew up, opening its mouth to pour out liquid from a fire flask. A ring of fire was constructed around the Besithia siblings.

" _No one enters, got it?!"_ Genius then switched off the device.

"You should listen to them. It's not safe for you either." Tempesta moved from sitting on her legs to sitting with them crossed, hunching forward with her thick mane of hair cloaking her face. "Aren't you the _smart one_?"

The lump in his throat was difficult to swallow and he let out a pathetic noise disgruntlement.

Many of the clones —the ones with enough sentience for it— were antagonistic towards him, projecting their discontent with Verstael onto Genius. The other boys grouped into the science division were especially hostile, envious of his intellect that set him apart from even them.

He fit nowhere. While part of a boxed set, his genius isolated him.

But it didn't matter. The only opinion of significance was his father's and he admired Genius's talents. Together, they were the apotheosis of scientists.

Did he need anyone else? He always believed the answer was no.

"I-I'm not leaving." Genius swallowed down the lump, opening his coat to pull out vials. "As the family doctor, I'm responsible for you."

An out of control experiment was to be abandoned, Verstael drilled this early into his assistants. The teenager in him, the one brought up by the princess, knew abandoning someone when he could help was wrong. Imperatrix, the manipulator, had slowly but surely conditioned this flawed response into Genius.

She just had to spread her disease of compassion to everybody.

"What's the point, Izzy? We both know how this ends." Tempesta blinked her eyes, wondering which one would be her last.

While eyesight and hearing were still funky, she could smell a lot better. Genius was giving off a buttload of fear and anxiety with that sweaty odor. Teenage hormones were definitively starting up for him.

In a few years, he'd be Nebula's height. Gods, the two of them were the worst. At least she wouldn't have to listen to them insult her any more.

They could save that for Imperatrix now.

"Don't doubt me. _My name is Genius_ and I'll figure something out." He continued mixing materials for a tranquilizing substance.

They needed time. Tempesta's skin was blackening far too fast. In less than an hour, she would be consumed entirely.

"Guess I should be flattered. I've never seen you so invested in a person." She gave up trying to sit up and fell backward, laying on the soft sand. "Everybody's into me when I'm like this. How's that fair?"

The scientist spilled some liquid on his hand, hissing from the sudden burn. His sister was doing a fine job of guilting Genius into a character assessment of himself and this wasn't the time.

Focus!

He could re-evaluate his mindset later.

"You're gonna drug me? I hope that's a narcotic."

"Tempy, you'll wake up as you." Genius flicked the syringe. "I…promise."

The fist fighter's smile was resigned but there was no condemnation present as the needle pierced her skin. "Hey, do me a favor, Izzy?"

"I'm not giving you a narcotic. It's dangerous to mix drugs."

"That'd be great but no." Her head lolled to the side, loopy eyes trying to locate the item. "Give me…the bell…"

"What?"

"The…bell."

Attributing the slurring to nonsensical talk due to the sedative, Genius ignored her. He pulled out a notebook to jot down ideas. A strong grip on his arm made the boy accidentally streak the pen across the paper.

"What, Tempy?! I'm trying to save your life!"

"The bell."

"What is this bell?!"

Weakly, Tempesta raised her hand in the direction of the memento tying her to the world of the living.

"Give it…to me."

The scientist trekked over to the small, unnoticeable thing. He wondered why it was so important once it was in his hand.

"Is it Cor's?"

A broken katana was discarded nearby, meaning his sister must have won the battle. She finally did it.

"And she wants a medal of the victory. Typical." Genius clicked his tongue, returning to the half-conscious blonde.

Such a dummy! She won the battle but lost the war.

"Here, Tempy." He helped her hold the bell.

"Thanks." Tempesta clutched the treasure over her chest, eyes finally drifting closed. "Little lion…should be with…me."

Genius savored the instance of his sister's peaceful rest. He didn't want it to be permanent though.

Back to the notebook.

A coma? Freeze her? Hit her on the head with a rock for amnesia? All these insane ideas were centered on buying time and hoping the daemon became pacified on its own. How else could he save the host from madness?

For all his blistering, Genius didn't have a clue on what to do. Even with the chancellor's knowledge, research on daemonology was still so flimsy.

Considering what Ardyn was capable of, he should be an expert on the subject. The man was the source of the lab's stock of daemons. All that dark energy coalesced into a giant orb.

Genius wanted to study the Orrery but his father forbade it. Verstael was extremely obsessive and protective of his dark matter. Maybe if he'd been less passive about the secrecy, the scientist would have a solution to the present problem.

Was it possible to worship someone too much?

"I don't know what to do." Genius took off his glasses since they were too fogged up.

His notebook was filled with useless ramblings and failed theories. The neatness of his inked words practically bounced off the pages like laughter.

He was a complete mockery of his name.

"I'm not supposed to fail."

Just looking at Tempesta made the boy's eyes water more and he cursed her, cursed how sentimental he'd become. If he had stayed in the lab, refusing the princess and his esteemed siblings, Genius wouldn't know these feelings.

He wouldn't be reduced to the level of his actual age, crying like a teenager overwhelmed by the adult's world. He'd never know the feeling of helplessness and ignorance. He'd most certainly not know the crushing feeling of losing a part of himself.

How could she do this to him? How did Genius let himself come to care so much?

"Genius, Storm!" Lunafreya slid to her knees, reaching for her fallen friend.

When the soldiers told the oracle of a powerful daemon attack, she rushed over, staff out and songs in mind for the fight. She didn't anticipate an empty field with Storm a victim and Genius a dispirited witness to the event.

The poor boy must've been traumatized.

"She's not dead." He whispered, wiping at his face with the sleeves of his coat.

Lunafreya lifted her head, hope renewed and moved closer to the woman. "Storm?"

Once her hand came into contact with her, the oracle perceived the dark magic. She realized the black marks weren't burns but Starscourge.

"How did this come to be? Where is the daemon that did this?"

The boy put his glasses on, hiding his ruby eyes full of tears. He couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Genius, this isn't normal! What if it infects someone else?!"

She'd never seen Starscourge advance so rapidly. The only explanation was that a high-level daemon transferred its malady to Storm.

There were many ways for a person to become infected. Breathing in too much of the miasma generated by daemons was one way. Suffering any kind of wound from them was another. Lastly, the powerful, astute night fiends could transfer their darkness into someone else.

Starscourge was a living curse, bent on consuming every creature to snuff out all remnants of light. Mankind had brought down the wrath of a vengeful god. Ifrit's black flames would destroy everything.

"I'll heal her." Lunafreya pressed her forehead to Storm's.

The song of healing flowed from her heart, bathing the area in a golden shower of lights and peaceful notes.

"I don't know about this…" Genius twitched from every sprinkle of magic that landed on him, feeling a sting instead of a caress.

Light magic didn't agree with them.

Lunafreya continued singing, guiding a portion of her soul into Storm, a process she'd done hundreds of times before with other victims. The oracle awaited the connection of their souls. On occasion, memories might slip into the link but she was astonished to be bombarded with a montage of images.

The show didn't last long.

A dark presence roared at Lunafreya, blowing her from the beach into a barren field. She whipped towards the sounds of growling, facing the entrance of a cave.

Yellow eyes glinted from within the gloom. This was the beast's territory.

"What…are you?" The oracle raised her hand, wanting to illuminate the scenery but her powers were gone. "Why have you brought me here?"

The creature's sounds grew more pronounced and had a rhythm to them so it had to be speaking but Lunafreya couldn't understand. Unable to communicate and unable to defend herself, she began to panic. The oracle backed up from the cave of dangers.

Retreating seemed to entertain the beast from its purring. Heavy footsteps alerted Lunafreya to its advance.

"A coeurl?"

If she could even call it that. While the monster had the basic shape of the feline predator, daemonic miasma cloaked much of its body. Details were obscured. Except for the eyes, they stood out clear as gems.

"What is going on?!"

How could something like this be inside Storm?! No…not Storm.

The memories revealed the truth.

A fearsome roar preceded the beast leaping for Lunafreya. Instinctively, she held up her arms in defense.

"Stop it!"

The oracle's eyes flew open just as her back hit the ground. Once the fog cleared from her senses, Lunafreya recognized the scenery as that of Galdin Quay and not the world of darkness.

Was it a dream?

"You could've killed her!"

She blinked at the enraged scientist.

Genius struggled to restrain his convulsing sister. Lunafreya succeeded in quelling the transformation but for some reason, prolonged healing had this effect on Tempesta.

What went wrong?

"Hurry up!" He urged the soldiers running over with a stretcher. "Get her to the medics!"

Genius was then on his feet, sprinting along with them. He practically forgot about the oracle which was fine because Lunafreya was too fatigued to follow. She'd been able to forget to how withered her soul was but using her abilities had re-opened the chasm.

It was so easy to overlook her mortality when preoccupied with her companions. The inclusion of a group of people in Lunafreya's life made Ramuh's warning fade into the background.

She was fated to die, the covenants would assure that. Whatever foolish notions of survival or circumvention she might have had were gone.

This feeling of degradation was too real to ignore. Her soul would go to Etro very soon if she continued this expeditious pace of contracts with the Astrals. Noctis would have to face everything alone then.

Was it selfish…for her to wish for more time?

"Luna." Ravus kneeled by his sister. "This is why I cannot let you out."

As harsh as his words were, his grip was gentle as he picked Lunafreya up. She rested her head on his shoulder, smelling home and sylleblossoms. The comfort of familiarity drew her from the bleak future.

"I have to keep you safe."

"You can't." She muttered, closing her eyes to the visions. "I am fortune's fool."

"You are no one's fool, least of all that sheep's. I will not allow it."

So bull-headed.

"Chacun voit midi a sa porte. Inutile de discuter."

The high commander huffed but refrained from replying once his sister fell asleep in his arms. Luckily, his prosthetic could handle her weight. Otherwise, carrying the girl all the way back to the ship would be impossible.

This arm of his would help Ravus do exactly as he said; defy fate.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"We seriously have to spend an entire day with these imperials?" Noctis grouched, willing the dungeon door to open with his glower.

"Not the whole day, just until nightfall." Ignis wasn't in much better of a mood but he had the good sense to hide his misgivings behind cordiality.

Ah, if only they could channel a modicum of Prompto's boundless positivity. Out of the three Lucians, he was the only one not put out by the situation. Their gunner was mingling with the expertise of an ambassador, a job Ignis was groomed for but couldn't bring himself to do with these people.

He only had so much control over his emotions.

Female attention combined with the security of a disposable camera gave Prompto the courage to engage in conversation with the princess and commodore. He did obtain a generous icebreaker with them anyway from unintentionally exposing their identities.

Not that they were able to deceive Aranea for one second.

What amused Ignis was Prompto's belief that Imperatrix had a crush on him and this fueled his desire to chat with her. Add in Aranea's teasing and the boy was positively glued to the women.

Such a civilian.

"That's too long! What am I supposed to do until then?" Noctis lazily sunk onto a crate, chin propped on his hand. "I promised not to destroy their base."

The prince's casual joking about destruction should have disturbed Ignis but the bitter loss of their home numbed his sensitivity. Still…

Keep this attitude up and…they would become as warped as the imperials.

"We could return to the Regalia, bide out our time and come back."

"Too much walking."

A vein throbbed in Ignis's forehead as he sat next to his liege. "I have no other suggestions, Noct."

For some time, the males were quiet, inspecting the soldiers come and go. They drew curious glances but nobody came close.

Things were different for the gunner.

"Is it just me or do they seem overly interested in Prompto? Especially the dude in the helmet." Noctis recalled wrinkling his nose a few times in the guy's presence.

His senses were completely on edge and the goosebumps wouldn't go away. He thought it was a reaction solely for the chancellor but this masked dude had a heaviness…or something…to him. Noctis didn't know how to put it into words.

Niffs were just all wrong. That was the best way to put it.

"They are…strangely accommodating to him. Whereas we receive wariness." Ignis had seen some of the officers do a double-take upon noticing Prompto.

When Aranea caught them gossiping, she shooed them off and shut down whatever questions we're being thrown around. The advisor had no explanation for this strange behavior and it made him antsy.

If any of these people had bad designs on Prompto, Ignis would deal with them accordingly. They agreed not to destroy the place but retaliation against threats wasn't a breach of the agreement.

"At least one of us is happy. He's just snapping photos without a care." Noctis complained.

"You could do the same with your phone if so inclined."

"That's not… I don't want pics of any of these guys."

"Then…what are you envious of?" At Noctis's blush and withdrawal into his knees —a habit of shyness that hadn't been left behind in childhood— Ignis shared his thoughts on the matter. "I admire his sunny disposition. He retains it no matter the circumstance."

They both envied him in fact, the prince simply had a gruffer way of expressing that. Fortunately, Prompto wasn't around to hear the whining because even though Noctis didn't mean anything by his words, the tone would have depressed the chipper blonde.

"Yeah…it's that." He unfurled a little. "And how easy he fits in. I don't know if it's a civilian thing or a Prompto thing. Either way, it's useful."

"You'll get there, Noct. I actually think your social skills have improved since…" The advisor found it difficult to voice their departure from Insomnia with any kind of levity.

None of them could have imagined their bachelor trip would turn into a fugitive escape. They lived on the road now. Gladiolus's paradise and Ignis's nightmare.

"Sure you're not buttering me up right before a lecture?" Noctis chose not to make a thing out of Ignis's lapse. "There's always a 'but' with compliments."

"I meant it. Your stammer is all but gone."

The prince paled, elbowing his advisor. "Don't say that out loud!"

"Don't say what?"

Noctis jumped, instinctively holding his hand out for a weapon.

"Woah, now, Your Highness." Nyx grimaced at the flash of pain searing through his temple from the brief flare of magic. "I come in peace."

"Do you?" Ignis said more to himself.

The glaive still heard the comment and scowled. His sense of deference went right out the window then. Without waiting for permission, Nyx made himself comfortable next to Noctis.

Before, a mere refugee wouldn't be allowed to sit with the prince and a noble of his council. Now, here he was sitting with them in the middle of a camp of Nephilim. Life changed quick.

"Where did you go?" Noctis eyed the container in Nyx's lap. "What's that?"

"My method of dealing with this day." He pulled out a canned beer, popping the lid to guzzle some down. "I feel better already."

"You're sharing, right?"

Nyx snorted. "You're not even legal, kid. Are you trying to get me in trouble with Ignis?"

"He could use one too, so there's no trouble to be found."

The glaive shrugged, shifting the lid for Noctis to stick his eager hand into.

"You can't be worse than Luna. Remember to pace yourself." Nyx took a large sip of beer, unaware of the prince's change in mood.

Noctis spun the can around, nerves causing him to hone in on the swishing liquid. Talking shouldn't be so hard. All he had to do was move his mouth.

Except…

His thoughts were so jumbled. Dozens of questions surrounding Lunafreya's wellbeing bounced off in his head. Noctis knew that he would screw up if he opened his mouth. Either he'd trip over his words or mess up his tone.

He couldn't help being a total dufus when it came to talking to others. Everybody else always did it for him.

This was why Noctis preferred writing. Lunafreya was the only person he could effectively communicate with.

"I swear I'm telling the truth. Luna's fine." Nyx pointed over to Imperatrix, who was now acting as a buffer between Ardyn and Prompto's camera. "That one might be a snotty princess but she's a pushover. Everybody does what they want."

"I find that hard to believe." Ignis retorted, ever the skeptic and unwilling to view the woman in the same light as the glaive.

"You guys have completed two covenants, right?"

"How do you know about that?" Noctis chimed in, out of his daydreaming and invested in the conversation.

"Cause I've had a front-row seat to the oracle forging the pacts. Those were some life-threatening experiences." Nyx raised his can to the boys in a salute. "From what Impera told me, you guys had to fight the Astrals. Hats off to you kids."

The glaive was an ordinary guy but somehow he'd received the life of an actual hero. He was half smug about it and half fed-up.

He walked a fine line with crazy now.

"But how? Luna's in…imperial custody."

"Being in Impera's custody isn't a prison sentence. Like I said, she mostly lets Luna do whatever. Including her pilgrimage duties." Nyx couldn't help the slip of fondness that joined his words. "She's not a total witch…most days."

Noctis didn't know what to say from this revelation. All this time he thought Lunafreya snuck out like a spy or assassin, completing her duties under the cover of night. A secret mission shared by two people separated by time and thousands of miles.

He mussed his bangs, embarrassed by his ridiculous imagination. Reading comics with Iris gave him stupid ideas.

Why didn't Lunafreya tell him she was with Imperatrix all this time? A simple note in the book and he would've found a way to rescue her.

What did the imperial princess gain by helping the oracle? Did she know about the prophecy? Probably not, otherwise she wouldn't help cause the demise of her country. They had to be a part of the great darkness plaguing the world.

It was his job to bring back the light and that meant taking out Niflheim. Imperatrix's minute of clarity for righteous actions wouldn't change anything.

"From the way you talk…" Ignis hesitated to voice his concern but he went ahead for the safety of Noctis. "You've become _close_ _with the enemy_. I hope you haven't forgotten why we no longer have a _home_."

Nyx squeezed his can too hard, distorting the shape. He had no right to cock an attitude from the advisor calling him out. The accusation was on point. He was literally sleeping with the enemy.

For all purposes, the glaive could be considered a traitor. A generous gulp of beer from a new can and Nyx could pretend the uncomfortable nausea was from the alcohol.

"Look…I'm not defending them but…" He should feel some disgust when looking at Imperatrix but there was none, not a drop for the woman. "If there's any chance of a peaceful future then it's with Impera. She's the one that's gonna be in charge sooner or later."

This woman had him whipped.

"That is…a good point." Ignis conceded.

The advisor in him was impressed with the glaive's diplomatic astuteness. The male side of him wasn't because it knew what truly was influencing Nyx. Beauty could twist a person's morals.

"I would still recommend caution." He knew the glaive's type and the enemy princess was certainly enough to sway him.

"That's a given, considering where we are."

The three shared the same withering frown for the mass of white uniforms.

"They sure know how to hurt someone's eyes with their fashion choice."

Nyx laughed at the prince's barb. "I know, right? You can spot them anywhere."

"Black is a more practical option." Ignis added.

Jokes over a beer with the guys. The glaive missed this simple triviality. It was difficult to replicate with so many females in the group and the one other male had a preference for shooting at him.

Did everything have to make him homesick?

"Does being friendly necessitate a punishment? I shudder at how closed-off the world has become." Ardyn whined, flipping painstakingly slow through government missives. "In my day, people interacted more with each other and than with cellular devices."

Why did the princess drag him to an empty table to do work? If they were to be alone, he'd rather play a game. While being cooped on Setzer could be boring at times, it offered Ardyn privacy with Imperatrix. Just as she liked being affectionate, so did the chancellor.

He wanted to hold her again. Fully acknowledging his love for the princess had re-awakened his clingy nature from before.

His wife, his precious wife that he wanted to embrace and kiss and serenade. Ah, she was making his heart pound as juvenilely as it did when they were first married.

"I will not be moved by your whining or your dreamy eyes." Imperatrix stated firmly, jaw clenching hard in an effort not to smile.

Gods, the way he looked at her!

"Not even a little?" Ardyn leaned on his hand, wild strands of red framing his face for even more of a picturesque scene.

Imperatrix slammed a pen on top of the papers. "You clearly saw how uncomfortable Prompto was, so why pressure him?"

"He was a susceptible target." He tapped his fingers on the table, still smiling. "As are you."

"Sign the papers!"

"As my adorable wife commands."

Ardyn picked up the pen, elegantly swishing out his signature on an approval for refurbishing an old building for a school in Gralea.

Prompto had the benefit of bearing no resemblance to any of the previous members of Somnus's retinue. With no lingering resentments pressing on his back, Ardyn toyed with the boy more freely than the others. His opposing personality to Nebula also played a little into it. He was as expressive as Tempesta and people like that were just gems.

In a world where selfish desires and facetious personas were rampant, finding people that wore their heart's on their sleeves was small. Things like joy and kindness were a novelty.

This was not the world he fought for.

"It was harmless teasing, my dear." His following words were whispered discreetly. "It's not like I set a Red Giant on the boy."

That was last time's shenanigans.

"At least your care applies to the welfare of the citizens." Imperatrix let the subject drop, mood softening as she read over all his approvals.

Charity work, education bills and studies for agricultural production. Seeing him diligent with work made her chest spark with delight. If anyone should sit beside her on the dais, it should be Ardyn, the man so dedicated to people but unwilling to fess up to the quirk.

"I often question your qualifications as chancellor but I am pleased to frequently have my doubts disproved. You fill me with pride, darling."

Ardyn messed up the flourish on his surname. He pulled his hat down over his face.

"Careful, dearest. Making me blush is going to give ideas to our ever-lurking audience."

She stared out at the soldiers. When would the next batch approach her for questions or requests? Signing trading cards and other items seemed to be their most favored entreaty of the princess.

Prompto's face at the events was most humorous. He then gushed about how strange it was for her to have celebrity status with people. According to him, people hardly paid attention to Noctis, to the degree that the Insomnians joked that the prince didn't exist.

Noctis's life was very private from the public, a reverse of Imperatrix's. The prince grew up in the crowds of the people, blending in with the obscurity. He belonged to no one.

She grew up in the eyes of the people. Her life was immersed with them. The princess belonged to the nation from the moment the empress produced the first heir to the dynasty in forty-two years.

Two different kinds of royal upbringings and two different kinds of paths.

"Ardyn…will you tell me about your family?"

"You keep making me mess up my signature! That's not nice, Musa."

She stole the fedora now propped on the table. "Can you be serious?"

"Well, I must now that you've taken a hostage." The chancellor finished his writing and then lazed in his chair. "You're being exceptionally impatient for something you will inevitably learn."

"How long should I wait? Up till the day we take vows?" Imperatrix traced the fine material of the fedora, getting a sense of wrongness about it. "You understand that there are traditions to be followed, yes? How am I to uphold them with your reluctance?"

He cringed.

Old customs of his age came to mind. Were this two-thousand years ago, Ardyn would have been killed for how he courted Imperatrix. No permission from the parents, unchaperoned outings together and the secrecy, all would have earned him death. He'd earned a second death for being intimate with her outside of marriage and a third death for the initiating the marriage proposal without parental blessings.

This was a moment where his old customs meshed uncomfortably with the modern ones he had to adopt.

"My dear, If I was on good terms with my father, I would bring you before him." Ardyn looked to the sky, squinting his eyes at the sun's radiance. "Unfortunately, to do so now would end in us struck down by swords."

"He is still living? Why have you never mentioned this?! Or, gone to see him?!"

The chancellor pursued his lips, endeavoring not to frown too viciously. "I know you heard what I said, Musa."

"You have lived in solitary for over thirty years! Whatever fallout you two shared must be salvageable at this point."

"I don't think so."

"You were a boy then, it could not be that unforgivable."

Any bit of playfulness was gone and Ardyn's face was a slate of resentment. Imperatrix flinched from a vision of black sludge pouring out the chancellor's eyes and mouth. When she opened her eyes, he appeared normal.

What the hell?

"My error was that unforgivable and to this day I still pay for it." He tugged at his scarf, neck prickling with the sensation of strangulation.

The great sage failing to rid Eos of Starscourge was a failure of epic magnitude. His family, his city…and even the world turned on him.

Imperatrix liked to allude to fortune's wheel quite often but she had no concept of what a true fall entailed. Ardyn went from the most beloved to the most hated.

"How about this." He left the scarf untied around his neck and shirt unbuttoned because the memories were getting to him. "I'll give you a hint of my father's identity."

"I do not know how that will be helpful when you have denied familial relations to every male in the Lucian line." The princess had sent so many text messages filled with different names, that she discovered a pattern in naming conventions. "Just tell me."

It was a rather obvious…and strange custom. Despite English being the language of Lucis, the royal family members mostly had Latin names. The tradition went on for centuries, all the way back to the founder.

The Mystic. His name was lost and much of the history around his time was obscure. Something about the mysterious figure unnerved her senses. When her group stumbled upon his tomb at the Disc, she too felt the same anxiety. Why did a dead man bother her so much?

"If only you remembered…" Ardyn sighed, longing for some form of recognition from Imperatrix. "Things would be different."

"What have I forgotten?" The princess gazed down to the hat in her lap.

Here they were, caught in another segment of her feeling guilty for something she had no understanding of. Making the chancellor sad wasn't her intention but it happened anyway. He always had to bring this undercurrent of tragedy between them.

What did he expect of her?

"Do you truly like this fedora? I feel a turban would suit you better." Imperatrix held up the headgear, twisting and turning it. "Maybe with flowers…to suit your particular panache."

Ardyn gaped at her. "What…did you…"

Unsure if he was offended or not, she smiled sheepishly while handing the hat back. "Well, Arabic is your second language, so it is not a far-fetched notion. Also, the clothes you wore on our date fit you more naturally than what you wear now."

The chancellor chuckled, mouth in an odd twist since he couldn't decide between a smile or frown. "Oh, Musa, my sweet girl. It's the little details that come to you."

Long ago Ardyn wore turbans when traveling and his wife added her flowers to them as decorations. Any other man might have been mortified to wear the charms but he wasn't. Nothing she was willing to give could ever upset him.

It saddened him greatly that his favorite turban had been destroyed and he had to substitute it for headwear more suitable to this time period. How ironic that the brother to give him the turban was also the one to ruin it.

Somnus…the wretched thief.

"You've pleased me greatly, my dearest. I shall be generous with my hint." Ardyn cast his golden eyes on the flagrant sigil of Lucis on Noctis's jacket. "My father isn't human. That is why you will never find his name listed in the Caelum genealogy."

The symbol of fifteen swords, worn on every Lucian soldier's uniform. These boys were putting his hush money to work.

Imperatrix giggled. "Is that a joke?"

"Have my words ever been one?" He smirked flippantly. "Though, I do always get the last laugh."

"That is impossible." She stated with a new sense of solemnity.

"I assure you, it's not. In fact, in my day it was fairly common."

"In what day was it common to have a non-human parent?"

"Once you figure it out, everything else about me will make sense." Ardyn stood up, collecting all his paperwork. "I'm going to take a nap now."

She wanted more answers but the sight of his sickly visage was enough for her to let him go without protest. What a cliffhanger!

Once more Imperatrix must scrap everything she knew about Ardyn to re-evaluate. How could a person be this puzzling?!

If only Minerva would bestow wisdom upon her so that she could figure out this man.

"Um, excuse me. Princess?"

Imperatrix forgot her dissatisfaction to smile encouragingly at Prompto. "Yes, did you need something?"

He fidgeted with his camera before answering. "Is there something wrong with your retainer? He's been…I feel like…he's eyeing me."

She was tongue-tied for a beat. Of course, Nebula would be hyper-focused on the male that shared the same face as him. He was going about showing his curiosity the wrong way.

"Be at ease. My attendant prefers to observe and it can be discomforting to those unused to him. I assure you, he means no harm."

"Cool." Prompto loosened up in posture. "Thought I was in trouble for being too familiar with royalty."

Imperatrix laughed.

"W-What? What did I say wrong?" His head whipped around to see if anybody would be barreling him into the ground. "Ignis royally got on my case when he found out Noct and I were friends."

Clear so far. Nobody was gunning to jump him.

"I a-apologize." The princess wiped at her eye, moreso giggling now. "Compared to the glaive, you are utter refinement. No amount of admonishment from Nebula nor I can make him respectful."

"Oh." The gunner glanced from his camera to his friends drinking beers with Nyx. "But you're a lady. He's at least a little nice, right?"

"Some days." Imperatrix heard the man's laughter and resented his trifling behavior with her earlier when he could be perfectly fine with the prince. "You should tell your allies to cut back on the spirits. They will not be entering the dungeon inebriated."

Insecurities overrode his love of photography so reluctantly, Prompto put a hold on selfies to follow the princess's suggestion. He didn't enjoy being left out.

As one blonde departed, another arrived.

"What did he want?" Nebula sat down where he could still spy on the Lucians.

"So much for getting all of your attention. I've barely had it since we left my room." Aranea took the seat next to the gunman, angling his head down and off the group of boys.

He grunted in disappointment at the flashing screen of defeat from the handheld console.

"You lost. Again."

Nebula clicked the button for a new match. "Taking advantage of my distraction is beneath you. Aranea."

"Aww, what a loser-thing to say." She cooed, throwing her legs on the table and leaning back in the chair. "I'll let you get a head start to stock up ammo."

Wordlessly, he dived into the task, forgetting about his question. Aranea, however, asked a new one.

"So, who's the new guy? And don't give me that fake name. There's no way a Dane would be all buddy-buddy with Prince Sleepy."

With no other choice, Imperatrix confessed. "He is Nyx Ulric."

Aranea's cool colored eyes concentrated on the princess. "You stole _the Hero_? How did that fly?"

Imperatrix leaned on her palm to cover the blush heating her cheek. The other was hidden by her bangs.

"I did not steal him."

"Come on, don't be like that." The commodore divided her focus between the game and a blushing maiden. "Tell me, girlie."

How their group came together was unconventional. They were forced to cooperate under dire situations and that was what got them to this point. Amicable socializing was still a new commodity for their ragtag company.

There was a very good chance those forged bonds would break.

All logic pointed to Nyx returning to the prince. He was one of them. The glaive didn't belong with the princess.

"He saved me in Insomnia and then I saved him outside the city."

Those days were so long ago. Astonishing, how Imperatrix had spent the better part of half a year in Lucis. A princess shouldn't be gone so long from her homeland.

It both amazed and disheartened her that Niflheim went on without her presence. They accepted the emperor's explanation of an extended tour for the crown princess. To the public, she had been on progress for two years, learning the land to soon come under her governance.

What a journey!

"You two must've fought all the time." Aranea remarked.

"He was abrasive in the beginning and it led to many spars."

Having another competitive fighter present was beneficial for Imperatrix's training. Matches with Tempesta became repetitive after a while. A new opponent with a different style helped the princess improve her techniques. Lunafreya's adventure with a lance-type weapon was also gainful practice.

While she couldn't boast the same prowess as the Caelums, Imperatrix was component with the weaponry of knights. Three talents she honed to mastery.

"The Hero of Kingsglaive. I wonder if he's as good as Prince Sleepy."

"Doesn't your nickname establish him as a weakling?" Nebula groaned from a headshot killing his character. "With those heavy bags under his eyes, I wouldn't be surprised if dropped dead in the middle of a fight."

"He looks wimpy but that magic of his is no joke. His warps cut off my aerial attacks." Aranea waved the game around in a taunt at her boyfriend. "Wanna go again? You've only lost five times."

The gunman tossed the heinous contraption onto the table.

"Aw, Sunshine. Should I go easy for the next one?"

"Easy?" Nebula stood up. "Will you be able to keep that cocky grin if we do this in real-time?"

Aranea's smirk waned. Before she could say anything, the shouts of her soldier had the commodore on her feet.

Since the three were on the lookout for a monster, they like the others before them, missed the speedy dog. Umbra barreled into Imperatrix, licking her face with gusto for the long separation.

"Ahh! Umbra, stop!" The princess pushed his nose away but the dog was relentless. "I can't breathe!"

He was heavy and sitting right on her chest.

Nebula chose to do nothing, shrugging off his girlfriend's concern. Help came from the most unlikely ally.

"What're you doing, Umbra?!" Noctis pulled the canine off Imperatrix, stumbling back and gasping from the weight. "Man, you're getting fat! Gotta tell Ignis to quit spoiling you."

Umbra whimpered, calming down from his enthusiastic entrance.

"Nope. Don't give me that look. I'm not changing my mind."

The dog sagged in the prince's hold, becoming dead weight. Noctis's arms gave out and they hit the ground.

"Thanks, Umbra. I wanted to look uncool right now." He complained.

The furball tilted his head back and licked Noctis's face. The prince huffed but scratched his ears anyway.

"Did you drink all of Tempesta's beer?!" Imperatrix exclaimed.

"Uh…sorta." Nyx confessed with some remorse, shaking the empty container. "I'll buy her some more."

The dark chuckle provided by Nebula's mask made the Lucian boys jump. "If you live that long. You know how essential alcohol is to her."

Boy did he know. Nyx saw the skinny girl chug a few packs every day, at night, in her panties and t-shirt while watching tv. They even split the pack when Tempesta was in a generous mood and didn't kick him off the couch like an unwanted cat.

The fist fighter should have liver failure with her consumption rate.

On the other side of horrible, killer lifestyle choices was Nebula. He had a history of smoking too much from how bad his coughs were. The man could abruptly start wheezing so hard that it was painful to see and hear. In his defense though, the gunman was on the verge of quitting.

Those masks weren't just hiding aesthetic dilemmas.

"If I add food into the equation, she won't do anything."

Nyx sounded so sure that Nebula was inclined to disagree. "You overestimate your value."

Aranea's brows rose.

Her boyfriend wasn't the argumentative type. He preferred to save himself the headache by going with whatever. Lots of times that made him easy to get along with and other times downright annoying when he wouldn't commit to something. Furniture shopping with Nebula was a nightmare. Scratch that, any kind of shopping with him was a hassle.

So why toss out the passive approach to deal with Nyx?

"Well, if I am, Impera will take care of it."

Nebula head twisted and she figured he'd have attacked if the princess wasn't in the way of a shot at the glaive. She had an idea of what was tripping him up.

"I will not protect you. And where are you taking them?"

Nyx was disappointed with the rejection and the alcohol fizzling in his system wrecked some of his control in subterfuge. Imperatrix sighed, moderating her edge to pleasantness. She offered a new alternative.

"Would you all like a tour of Setzer?"

Better that she play guide than these boys sneak on board for clues. Judging by Noctis's pout and Prompto's guilty face, they were planning to do exactly that.

"No foul play." Imperatrix saved the following instructions primarily or the prince. "And do nothing unusual."

The call-out and disparaging deadpan told Noctis all he needed to know about what was being hinted at. "I'm not some perverted teenager."

Prompto's snickers were cut short by Nebula's sudden emergence and he squeaked.

"No cameras. Hand it over." His waiting hand was met with low whining.

"Why? You're cutting off my arms, dude!"

The way Nebula's neck craned gave off the impression of him contemplating the metaphor as a reality. The gunner held his camera close, clinging to it like would save him.

This guy was insanely scary!

"Just do it, Prompto. You'll get it back." Ignis patted the blonde's shoulder.

"B-But…" The question of why slipped out for only the advisor's ears.

"They don't want you taking pictures that could later be used against them."

Things clicked for Prompto then and he felt stupid for not understanding. He gave his camera to Nebula.

"Please don't break it. I got some amazing shots I wanna develop."

"Don't worry." He set the item on the table.

Prompto was wrong to think they were done. Nebula once more held out his hand.

"Cellphone." The gunman declared impatiently.

"What?!" He was even more protective this time, angling his body away with both hands defending the pocket holding the treasure. "I'm a man of selfies! Why am I being picked on?!"

"Incorrect. It's not just you." Nebula's mask turned to the other boys. "I want all your devices."

Ignis was already prepared for this and set his phone on the table. Noctis followed with a tiny huff and order that if Gladiolus called him, they were to give the phone back. It took more encouragement from the advisor for Prompto to tearfully relinquish his device.

"Want anything else? Like my car keys?" Noctis mocked the retainer. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"I have a motorcycle. Your car is of zero interest to me." Nebula sat down, loot gathered in front of him.

The prince perked up. "What kind? Wait…I'll see it myself."

"My sister has it now."

A good decision. If these boys had so much as breathed on the bike, Nebula would've popped a blood vessel. Tempesta better have kept it clean. Getting sand in the pipes or the compartments was a punch to the head.

"He wouldn't let you near it anyway. Nebula is as stingy as they come." Nyx grouched. "You know how many times he shot me for just being near it? Too many!"

"Wha, for real? He shot you?!" Prompto's horrified face didn't register for the glaive.

"Yeah, all the time. The only person safe from Nebula is Impera. Tempesta and I are just bullseyes to this guy." He'd become too accustomed to eccentricities and forgotten the scope of normal.

"Which is why I hardly need to practice." The gunman feinted like he was reaching for his holster.

Nyx appropriately skittered a distance away. "Not this time, asshole!"

To negate the boy's distress, Imperatrix elaborated as they followed the glaive. "Nebula does not use bullets but darts."

"Don't forget the marbles." Nyx added, hopping up the ramp of Setzer.

"And those." She amended.

The boys calmed down.

Showing them around with Nyx was…odd. Even with the glaive as a buffer, the two groups were cold and stiff when speaking. Their arrangement highlighted how unwelcome Imperatrix was and the closer they got to the living section, the more iced out she was.

Once by the hallway that would lead to her room, she decided to stop playing the part. Another male-themed joke and the princess would shout. So, Imperatrix delegated the duty of guide to Nyx and left.

Things tired her out more and she didn't have the patience to keep up appearances.

"You had the right idea, darling." Imperatrix kicked off her shoes and removed the army coat before joining Ardyn on her bed.

He stirred enough to drowsily turn on his side, lifting his arm for the princess to snuggle into his chest. "I can feel him here. Stay away from Somnus, Musa."

"Who are you talking about?"

"My brother, the fiend that killed you."

For some reason, a streak of pain swept through her stomach.

"Not this time. I'll protect you, I swear."

"Hush, my darling. Don't cry my darling." Imperatrix soothed the half-asleep man, rubbing his back to combat his trembles. "It is a dream, nothing more."

She began humming.

"You remember…that's your part."

The princess continued her lullaby till the chancellor drifted back asleep. Just who was it he saw when looking at her?

Was Musa not, in fact, an endearment but the name of a previous love? Why else were his expressions so charged with dualities when speaking with her? Why else would he have unreasonable expectations of her?

He could look at her with such disappointment sometimes.

"Ardyn…I want you to see me." Imperatrix blamed her sleepiness for the return of bizarre images.

Black streaks leaked from the red head's eyes, markings glowed on his forehead and horns protruded from his head. This wasn't the appearance of a human. The surreal was the territory of dreams. This man, so fragile and tearful, was no monster.

Monsters didn't love.

* * *

 **XV**

* * *

"I know how you feel, kid but what can four of you do against an entire army?" Nyx shook his head. "Even with the field marshal on your side, it'd be suicide to go to Galdin Quay."

Once Imperatrix left them, the boys dropped their guards. Noctis in particular when they stopped by Lunafreya's room. His general moodiness became melancholy as he'd stood nervously in the same place the oracle did.

All but some scattered music notes remained to prove that she lived on the ships for months. The rest of her things had been packed and taken with her to Galdin Quay.

The prince folded those sheets up and pocketed them, in a trance of quietness until the group got to the recreational room. He and Ignis then teamed up to interrogate Nyx on more crucial topics. For instance, Lunafreya's present location and how they could go about retrieving her.

Nyx found himself in a bind. By telling, he was putting Imperatrix's people at risk. By not doing so, he wouldn't be helping Noctis. One was the woman who saved him and he'd steadily fallen for and the other was the son of the man who saved his village. Plus, Regis saddled him with that promise of peace.

Fenrir's hide! What a conflict of interest!

"What's an army going to do against Rahmu? Them being in the ocean makes it a cakewalk. A bolt and they're done." Noctis budged a stray controller, highly tempted to turn on the game. "I just gotta get Luna first."

He'd left his game consoles at home.

"That…is not a good plan." Nyx stared at the back of the prince's head, slightly freaked out at how quick he was to latch on the mass devastation option.

"What do you mean? It's the best way to take out a large force."

His succinct manner of speech and blank face were chilling to the glaive. He'd been like this not too long ago, viewing the Niffs as inhuman. Magic gave him the ability to lay waste to them and it went to his head.

For Noctis, someone who could channel the power of Astrals, no enemy was too dangerous and no goal was out of reach. His magical abilities were beyond the realm of mortals. It wasn't a shock that the prince would get drunk on the power and lose touch with reality.

With cosmic power in hand, the concept of consequences was negligible. If Nyx hadn't lost the ability to wield magic, he'd never have uncovered these revelations.

No matter how old someone got or however many experiences they had under their belt, lessons were learned, brutally and unpredictably.

"You've got nothing to say about this, Ignis?"

The advisor showed some discomfort at the glaive's judgment but nodded his head anyway. "It's…an efficient stratagem."

"Efficient? It's damn right, merciless!"

"You don't owe them for saving you from a mess they started." Noctis kicked the controller, glaring at Nyx. "You don't have to defend them out of obligation!"

"You don't get it." He sighed, unfathomably disappointed.

Nyx slid off the table, moving closer to the prince. Ignis blocked him and the glaive clenched his fist.

"Are you okay with him having so many deaths on his conscience?"

Like him, Lunafreya didn't believe Imperatrix when she spoke of Noctis's days of destroying bases throughout Lucis. But this confirmed every ugly truth she recounted.

"He's a twenty-year-old kid that's been out in the world for less than a year and he's got a higher kill count than me! How are you okay with that?!" Nyx grabbed Ignis by the shirt, shaking the male so fixated with perfection and hoping the new wrinkles would annoy him. "Aren't you his advisor?! Advise him!"

This was the kid an entire city died for and the one Regis wanted him to protect. There was no way he'd stand for his child, that he took great pains to shelter and keep innocent, becoming so tainted with death. No way he'd accept Noctis becoming an avatar of Etro.

"You've lost sight of things." Ignis shoved Nyx off and smoothed out his shirt. "Perhaps Insomnia was never your home and that is why there was little difficulty for you to move on."

"What?!" Nyx's fist was up and flying before he knew it.

"Hey!" Noctis caught the punch. "Chill out!"

"Hell no! I fought and bled for Insomnia! Nobody's gonna say that I didn't care about it!"

"Guys, please! No fighting!" Prompto begged, standing between Nyx and his friends. "We're all on the same side."

Umbra even submitted his thoughts through sharp barks.

Nyx scoffed at the prospect of three kids standing against him. He stormed out.

His faith in the Lucian government had dwindled while in service and then the treaty concession showed how much Regis cared about his outer territories. Now the new king was on the path of an avenger.

He couldn't stand it!

Beating the stuff out of training dummies was the next best course of action. The glaive unlatched his daggers and went wild in the training room.

"Can't believe this shit! Ignis is supposed to be the smart one." Nyx slashed and slashed at the bags, sending them spinning around the room. "It's not right!"

The glaive slammed the daggers together, forming the bow and its symphony of powered-up energy matched the mayhem of his spirit. His targets exploded into sand upon being struck with an arrow of red.

"He's supposed to better!"

The gym was becoming more of a mess with each of the bag's demise. Nyx kept going, unleashing arrow after arrow on every swinging object. Maybe it wasn't sandbags he saw. They were every glaive turned traitor that he killed.

"He's supposed to save the world!"

Those glaives were his second family. Nyx killed them for the Caelums, for Insomnia. Those royal brats had no idea how deplorable it was to carry that burden. How it invaded his dreams and thoughts.

Everybody only saw the boastful Nyx, nobody saw the broken Nyx. He wouldn't let them. No, that secret side was a privilege only for alcohol. Imperatrix glimpsed a portion of his misery here and there but she wouldn't get the full picture.

Nothing would ruin the Hero's prestige. He couldn't afford it when his disease would eventually wreck his physical image. No, he had to always be impressive.

"What kind of world is this?" Nyx's fingers shook too much and he dropped the bow.

Moving forward resulted in him tripping over his own feet. Everything hurt and his vision went wonky.

A world where violence was the daily bread. Where heroes were broken and disillusioned. Where had the glory gone?

The glaive rolled onto his back. "When is this war going to end?"

He wanted his child to be born in a time of peace. Where hunting was the most dangerous battle they would face. Nyx wanted them to never have an ugly conscience that kept them up at night.

How was a peaceful world possible if the boy meant to save it was a relentless killer? Noctis didn't see anything wrong with his actions and no one around him was willing to point it out.

Both the Nephilim and Lucians needed to calm down. So did his body.

"What's going on?" Nyx dry heaved from the sudden bout of nausea. "I was fine…a minute ago…"

The glaive had no idea how long he stayed on the floor. His ailing body wouldn't allow him to move so his mind went into an abnormal state of timelessness. He couldn't say if he was dreaming or awake as spectrals of the Lucian royalty surrounded him in flames of blue.

The tingles in his arm and head sure felt real.

As if defiance was given form, a princess burst through the flames and ended the hallucination.

"Gazelle eyes."

Those eyes and hair couldn't belong to anyone else. They were what made Imperatrix stand out. Her personality was a decent bonus.

Together, they'd make an amazing kid.

"Another one of my consorts is unwell. Is something going around, I wonder?" She wiped at Nyx's forehead with a handkerchief. "But in your case…"

He clenched his eyes shut. The glaive hadn't considered the cancer being the reason for his episode of bizarreness.

"I have not been able to find doctors that specialize in a cure. They all tell me that mitigating the pain is all they can offer." Imperatrix dabbed at her eyes with a clean side of the handkerchief. "I'm sorry."

Maybe even for more than that.

Nyx moved to lay his head in the princess's lap. "Not your fault. I made my choice by putting on that ring."

She caressed his hair, finger routinely tracing near his ear. A place Imperatrix discovered could make the glaive sigh with a gentle smile. A few hours ago they were the opposite of kind to one another. Now, she couldn't bear to be anything but tender with him.

"You made a mess of the gym, Nyx."

He opened his eyes to look around and groaned out. "This will be killer to clean."

Imperatrix hummed in agreement.

"Baby…"

"No." She denied him with the sweetest tone and expression.

"You didn't even let me finish."

"From the whiny tone, pet name and your general personality, I already know what you want. I am not helping clean this."

"Not even a little?"

"No."

Nyx groaned long and loud while relaxing on Imperatrix's lap. Sleep came a lot smoother when she was near. Ardyn, that lucky bastard! He'd been getting this treatment for years.

"I came to tell you dinner is ready."

"I've been here that long?"

"Indeed. Training can steal all your time away if you are not careful."

"Damn, I don't want to get up."

Imperatrix chuckled and let him lay on her for a few minutes.

"Did you cook?" Nyx asked after a while.

"Yes but with the way Ignis hovered in the kitchen it longer than necessary." The princess's stomach let out a low growl. "I feel like I could eat the entire pot myself."

Nyx was up and gazing intently at Imperatrix. "So you've got cravings? Now's a good time to bulk up. Add some meat into your diet."

"Not going to happen."

"You never know. Pregnancies do crazy things to a woman's appetite."

Imperatrix sped up after the glaive. "Stop with that insinuation."

"It's not an insinuation but a fact. I know you're not dumb so I don't know why you're not noticing the signs. You're preg—"

The princess smacked at Nyx's arm. "Stop saying that!"

"Why are you in denial? This is what you want!"

Here they go again. Now they were shouting in the hallway.

"In the right manner and time!"

"You should've thought about that before jumping my bones." Nyx smirked. "But you just couldn't control yourself anymore. It's okay, I forgive you for being head over heels for me, Impera."

"I swear!" She balled and un-balled her fists. "I want to choke you more than I do Ardyn."

Nyx stopped and the princess did so as well. His mute leering was enough to make her fidget.

"What is it?"

"You and he must have an _S and M_ thing going on, with you as the master. That would explain your general assertiveness."

Imperatrix seized in mortification, palms smacking against the flaming heat of her cheeks. Words wouldn't come out of her mouth.

"But then you've got these absurd moments of cuteness, like now, that doesn't fit your age. You're so weird."

Satisfied to have gotten the last word, Nyx swaggered on.

"That is the wrong way."

"I've lived on this ship long enough to know my way to the dining room."

"We are eating on the Highwind."

That made him retrace his steps to the still fuming princess. "Why?"

"It can fit everyone comfortably in its mess hall."

"That makes sense. It is a bigger ship."

Imperatrix huffed at the glaive's continued pompous attitude and haughty walk. She could like and dislike this man in equal measures.

When they stepped into the Highwind's cafeteria, Nyx waited for the stiff silence and rigid posture that came with acknowledging a royal's presence but it didn't happen. People called out greetings in between their rabble and that was mostly it.

Imperatrix made a big deal out of him showing her respect but she didn't seem to care about others not doing so. Or maybe it was a military thing. She didn't want to be seen as a princess, rather as a commander.

This wasn't how things went when Noctis or Regis walked into a room at the citadel. Waiting for the head figures before eating was a similarity though. Judging by the commodore's face when they got to her table, this was a tradition she least liked following.

"Mealtime is the one appointment I never expect a guy to be late for." Aranea threw her hand up and talk died down. "Dig in people! You don't get a Nebula and Impera meal every day."

Dozens of cheers rang out and then the chorus of silverware hitting plates.

"Is this…khoresh?" Nyx stirred his spoon around in the soup.

He could see the reluctance on the prince and Prompto's face heightened by him divulging the foreign origins of their meal. They probably wanted something closer to a Western dinner.

Imperatrix beamed as she broke her bread to dip into her bowl. "Well done! I am amazed you remembered."

"Believe me, it wasn't hard. The things you make leave a distinctive impression."

She couldn't tell if he was complaining or not but by the steady pace Nyx ate at, the princess guessed that the food was to his liking.

"I've been eating soggy noddles for weeks. I'm damn happy for a break in routine." Aranea split her bread with her boyfriend since Noctis's group cleaned out the basket. "Having a desert in store makes it even better."

Biggs nodded gravely. "The weather here seeps into everything. Nothing tastes right."

"Ugh. The guys in the dungeon have it worse. Gotta feel bad for them missing out on this."

"Poor Wedge."

The commodore and lieutenant took a moment of respectful silence for their comrades underground. Then they tucked into their meal.

"What's for dessert?" Noctis interjected very much like a child and then attempted to play it off with the most boring expression a human face could make.

"Shirini Morabaii." Imperatrix answered, smiling with pride. "There was plenty of jam in the kitchen and I had to take advantage of it."

With Ardyn onboard Setzer, their jar of jam went empty swiftly from the amount he spread on biscuits and other items that had no business mixing with jelly. Honestly, everything in the kitchen that had the slightest taste of sweetness was consumed by him. Since the princess didn't have much of a sweet tooth, it didn't bother her but the Besithia sibling's snack mania took the biggest hit.

Their cookies and Oreos were sacrifices to the chancellor.

"Ahh…they're so delicious." Ardyn looked longingly towards the head table where all the food trays were laid out. "I bet Ignis will be jotting down notes in his little book after one bite."

The advisor lifted his head at the address. He'd already been taking notes on the stew dish. The fact that the vegetables within had gone unnoticed by the prince was inconceivable.

During his study of Nebula and Imperatrix, he discovered she was a vegetarian. That was why her retainer cooked the meat portions and she handled the other ingredients. Somehow, she'd succeeded where Ignis failed.

He could never get Noctis to eat a single green food!

For once, the advisor didn't have to sit through the prince lobbing his unwanted food on Ignis's plate. He would figure out the secret ingredient to fool Noctis in the future.

"That is if you do not eat them all first." Imperatrix picked on the chancellor.

His grin was anything but innocent. "Much as I would love to, that wouldn't be fair to everyone else. They're so thrilled to sample a princess's baking."

She laughed at the memory. Having the men almost get into a fight over who got first servings had been outrageous. People were so funny sometimes, chiefly the males.

The female soldiers were more behaved but their compliments had flustered Imperatrix. The princess focused so much on training and military matters that she feared her domestic qualities were nonexistent. They helped assuage that fear.

"Can I have my phone back now?" Prompto wanted to take a picture of his meal before eating it all. "Just one pic and I'm good."

With the slot retracted from his mouth and the man's drawling voice broadcasted, Nebula seemed less terrifying. The visor was still off-putting and the gunner had no clue why the man was still wearing it.

"You have a banal addiction."

Prompto tugged at the bandanna on his arm. The nervous tick made Nebula reach into his pocket.

Filled with Nyx's stories of ninja shootings, the gunner ducked out of his seat with a shriek. Everything became extremely, painfully and oppressively quiet as he hid under the table.

"This is your fault."

"No, it isn't." Nyx denied. "If you weren't so sinister, kids wouldn't freak out. Just take off the mask."

"I will not."

"I tried."

Prompto's face could be used to scramble eggs from how hot it was. Actually, he rather liked the idea of shriveling up. To shrivel up into nothing because this was a horrifying social failure that he'd never live down.

At least Gladiolus wasn't there to make the situation a million times more humiliating. He just loved messing with everybody.

"Prom, it's fine. Nobody cares." Noctis poked his head down, zero judgment present for his friend. "Your phone's up here."

Prompto slowly rose up to sit in his seat, fully prepared to hide behind his phone. He didn't need to since everybody was carrying on with their conversations.

The only source of acknowledgment of his return was from Nebula. "You should know Cindy has been calling and texting you all day. Better deal with your girlfriend now."

The gunner promptly had another outburst.

"Dude, not cool! You should've told me earlier!" He unlocked his phone to flick through his messages. "What if she thinks I'm ignoring her?! What if she never talks to me again?!" Prompto couldn't stop the slew of words coming out his mouth. "You think she's my girlfriend?! I wish! I mean, I've been trying but Gladio's advice doesn't work like he promised it would. Noct has no clue. So now I'm trying Ignis's—"

"Prompto, you're making a scene." This time Noctis was hiding beneath his bangs, face staunchly angled opposite of the numerous amused faces.

The gunner laughed with a couple of hitches in it, blush restored with a vengeance. "I'm gonna go make a phone call."

He darted outside.

"Remind you of anyone?" Aranea teased her boyfriend.

"I don't know where they get the energy." Nebula gathered his dishes, getting up to retrieve the other empty ones at the table.

"Allow me to assist in this." Ignis followed suit, rattled with being waited-on.

The gunman didn't protest the advisor's help but he did push Imperatrix back into her seat when she tried to assist.

Noctis was now alone at the table of Niffs. Well, Nyx was still present but he was currently toeing the line of ally and enemy.

A dark, petty section of the prince's mind figured Cor received incorrect intel. That Nyx wasn't the one to defend Insomnia alongside the statues of his ancestors. That maybe, he was one of the traitor glaives. It would explain why he was so relaxed while on the same side as the imperial princess and chancellor.

However…there was undeniable proof of Nyx's valor that Noctis couldn't ignore.

"It doesn't hurt…most of the time." The glaive's low mutter caused the prince to take his eyes off the facial scars.

Inimitable. During a rare lecture from his ever-busy father, the prince thought the word was a different way of calling him immature. Half-listening lost him context clues and it wasn't until he asked Ignis that Noctis learned the truth.

Unique and beyond imitation. He didn't feel that way about himself but would definitively classify the markings left by the Ring of Lucis as inimitable.

"What was it like?"

"Be more specific, kid."

"Wearing the ring?" Noctis leaned forward, speaking lower. "Did you…see them?"

His father had told him stories at first, wild, magical things to install a sense of awe in the prince. As Noctis got older, the stories became more realistic and Regis alluded to the great toll their magic demanded. He wouldn't mention anything about the other kings and queens that stood as judges for every Caelum that donned the ring.

If anything, their ancestors seemed to intimidate his father rather than awe him. Noctis's childhood marvel of the family artifact tapered off into apprehension then. And how could it not?

Something so tiny and inanimate literally drained the life out of the wearer. Someday he was supposed to put that ring on.

There were some screwed-up aspects that came with being a Caelum.

"No offense, Your Highness but your ancestors are pricks. I had to threaten them with destroying the ring for them to give a damn about saving Insomnia."

Noctis unleashed a remarkable deadpan that Prompto would've loved to make into a meme. "For real?"

There were so many other things he wanted to say but they weren't appropriate for the present company.

"If it weren't for Regis sticking up for me, I might've had to go through with my threat."

The prince scooted back. How was he supposed to process that?

His ancestors didn't care about their homeland? What was the point of sealing their souls in the ring then?

"First come, first serve." Nebula proclaimed, setting the dessert platter on the table.

The sweet smell had Noctis's head swiveling around and his mouth watered.

"Aww, you finally got the shape right." Ardyn was the first one with a flower cookie in hand. "And you've even colored them! How charming, princess."

"Wow! I feel all gooey inside." Aranea's moan caused Nebula to break his cookie before he could eat it.

"Yes, it's heavy on the love ingredient. How like a woman." Ardyn obtained a second after finishing his first.

The commodore coughed out what she chewed, unable to suppress her laughter.

"Could you not?" Imperatrix murmured, face partially obscured by a plate.

"Yeah, could you not? None of us should choke to death." Nyx repeated with more sass and then bit into his cookie. "Woah."

The corny comment made abundant sense right then. There was no other way to put it; he could taste love! With one bite, the glaive felt like his life stopped for a brief montage of every fluff of joy his memories could offer up. He had to turn around to save face.

This woman was so going to be his.

"It's good." Noctis admitted to the princess, regretting his praise from how much she smiled.

No one so evil had the right to look so girly.

"Would you like the recipe?" Imperatrix extended to the advisor scribbling in his notebook.

Taking a peak, she saw how he correctly guessed that saffron was a key ingredient in the khoresh. Further reading might have raised her opinion of him but Ignis shuffled out of her viewing range.

"If…you do not mind."

She held out her hand.

"Can't you tell me?" Ignis had a method of organization and didn't want her to mess it up.

"But it is a secret. Someone might hear."

"Then, why are you sharing it with me?"

"Because we are both the moms of our respective groups. We are kindred souls."

Ignis meticulously finished off his last sentence, put the pen inside the book, closed it and handed it to the princess. It was a drawn-out process and he wouldn't have blamed her if she commented on it but Imperatrix didn't. He had to be methodical so his skin tone didn't fluctuate.

She continued to inappropriately get under his skin.

While writing Imperatrix asked. "How many languages do you speak?"

"Four fluently and two conversationally."

"I know three of them: Latin, French and English." She could recall him listening avidly to her when they were at the base. "What are the other three?"

"The romance languages: Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Since I know Italian, I can maneuver my way through the other two."

"I envy the prince. You are a very capable retainer. Nebula and Tempesta are satisfied with Latin and English."

"Even knowing two languages is a step above the average population." By leaning over her shoulder, Ignis could see that the princess had written in various languages. "You are a rare outlier in knowing so many."

If only Noctis had the same skillset, it would vastly improve his status as a monarch. Sadly, he refused to learn. Although, he might be able to convince him to learn French now.

What better way to impress a lady than by speaking in her native tongue? Princess Lunafrey would be most pleased with her future husband.

"I would like to see how these turn out under your hand but oh well. I hope your friends will enjoy them." Imperatrix gave the notebook back to Ignis and went back to the table.

He held the book, mapping his fingers to the indents left by her on the pages. Something about this was nostalgic and it didn't sit well with him.

"No woman has ever given me notes before."

So there was no reason to have any kind of sentimentality towards Imperatrix. Besides, she marred his perfectly structured notes. There was no sense of structure to her writing, just whatever popped into her head got notated. And a lot of the recipes were written in different languages, some that he had no clue of.

This…was an aggravating puzzle that he'd have to figure out.

"I can't believe you ate all of them! I barely had one." Prompto miserably snapped photos of crumbs on a tray. "Even my followers agree."

Noctis shrugged, licking some jam off his finger. "You shouldn't have been on the phone for so long."

The comment section of Prompto's post called him out for being a greedy, mannerless house guest. None of those users knew they were 'liking' dessert made by a Niff at a Niff dinner.

Bet the picture wouldn't be so popular then.

"You're gonna get cavities and then Ignis will ban all deserts."

"He wouldn't." The prince saw how many new pages the advisor added to his book. "It'd be a waste for him to not make any. And he still hasn't gotten that Tenebraen desert right."

"This must be done." Prompto typed up a new post. "Hashtag: Cookies Monsters. See?"

Noctis became marginally ill from the picture of him and the chancellor eating together like normal people. "Delete that."

"No way! It's already getting hits." The gunner pointed to the comment section. "It's kinda funny how they think he's your eccentric uncle. If only they knew it was the chancellor."

"Get rid of it!"

"Noct!" Prompto struggled to retain custody of his phone.

There was no reason for him to be defensive. It was a dumb picture. However, something in him knew the image was wrong.

It was a lie.

"Oh, Noctis. Is it that _terrible_ to be caught in time _with me_?"

The boy's wrestling match halted.

"Any time with you is awful."

Ardyn gasped. "That hurts! And I thought we bonded!"

"In what universe?"

The chancellor went on with the melodrama. "Sweets were a favorite of ours."

Where Noctis stood, Ardyn saw his brother. Same midnight-blue hair, same blue eyes and same spunky defiance. Ugh, he wanted this boy gone.

"Ah, dessert. The most peaceful of shared moments between us."

Dear Somnus, who he raised with all the love an elder brother could give. Wretched, Somnus, who stole everything from him.

Ardyn wanted to murder this weak incarnation of his brother! And it would be a trifle with the backing of the daemons. There were no bonds of brotherhood to stay his hand from fratricide.

One more sin on his soul wouldn't mean anything.

"Your Highness, the time for the door to open is upon us. You ought to complete any final preparations." The sound of Imperatrix's voice brought the chancellor out of a crater of malevolence.

"Alright. I'm ready to get this over with." Noctis let with his retainers.

"Won't you rest some more, Ardyn?" Imperatrix braved a quick touch to his arm and then retracted her hand before she initiated more. "You are getting paler than what is healthy."

Not to mention colder. Even with the layers of his suit, Ardyn's presence had a chill to it. Sitting by him through dinner had felt like winter and while nostalgic of home, it worried the princess.

He must be so sick that his magic was reflecting it.

"I won't be able to sleep knowing you're going into Steyliff Grove with him."

"You confuse me."

He confused himself. Though that did tend to happen when a person lived too long and had ample voices in their head. These modern scientists would classify him as a hard case of schizophrenia, the kind that necessitated detainment.

Ardyn would allow no one to ever again imprison him. A brother as a jailer was not an experience he wanted a repeat of.

"You want to help Noctis but you also despise him." Imperatrix had the mutterings from the nightmare on the block for airing but the timing was wrong. "One cannot be so contradictory."

"I won't seem so once you figure me out."

Nyx called for her and Imperatrix had to leave the chancellor. Since when had clearing a dungeon become the simplest task in her life?

Jupiter give her strength.


End file.
